Bonds of the Heart
by TheJadeDragon37
Summary: Prequel to Keyblade of the Heart. Clestia. A world filled with monsters and the perfect training grounds for aspiring for Keyblade Masters Aqua and Terra. Sol and Luna two mercenaries are tasked with taking down one of Clestia's larger monsters. On their way to take it down they stumble upon an ancient secret one that would help them in the years to come.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: **First and only one in this story. I don't own Kingdom Hearts.

**(A/N): **And I'm back with another Kingdom Hearts story! In fact I'm back by popular demand!

*Mika walks up taps Jade on the shoulder* Uh Jade? We ain't back by popular demand. Keyblade of the Heart got around only 70 reviews. About a third of them were from The Unknowing Herald.

Jade: So wait why am I here writing this prequel then?

Mika: Cause I'm awesome and I'd *censored because it's just too graphic for even an M fic* you if I didn't get my own story.

Sol: Sis. This story is about Luna and I.

*Mika checks script for Bonds* Damnit! I have a minor role again! Well at least I have Rin this time. Gonna get laid in this story I can just feel it.

Luna: Actually Mika this fic is rated T. Heck sex technically isn't even allowed on this site. Besides Jade didn't write anything close to a lemon in Keyblade of the Heart and that was rated M.

Mika: What's a gal got to do ta get laid around here?! Herald! I know you're reading this. Jade's given you rights to me. I wanna shag some hot chick!

Rin: You better be talking about me Mika!

Mike: course Rin of course. It's not like I think Aqua's hot or anything.

*Jade pinches the bridge of his nose* Anywho. I'm back with the prequel to Keyblade of the Heart. Don't worry you don't need to know anything about that story to get this one. It's a prequel after all. With that said though the following mess down below is the two flashbacks scenes from KotH. I've made sure that they can stand on their own here but next chapter is when the real story begins. Oh and I'm not titling the chapters this time.

Prologue

Luna walked through the door leading to the main room where the Knights dealt with requests. She had been called in for the newest mission. Her partner was the bookworm Sol. She was annoyed that the captain was sending her out with such a useless ally. Wasn't she strong enough to deal with a couple of monsters on her own? The captain was sitting behind the counter talking with another potential customer. Her soon to be partner was sitting in a chair book in hand like always. If he wasn't such a bookworm Luna would have thought him cute with his shaggy brown hair and chiseled face. Oddly enough gold colored eyes scanned the pages of the book. Like her he wore the Knights uniform of black shirt and pants, only Luna opted for the knee length skirt, with a blood red overcoat. On the back of the coat would be two swords crossed over a shield, the symbol of their group. Attached to his waist was the standard long sword. Approaching him she noticed a parchment in his lap, no doubt the mission's details. She cleared her throat to get his attention. The man reading ignored her as if she wasn't there at all. Now Luna didn't consider herself vain but she'd been told, and harassed, by a lot of the male members often enough to know she was good looking. Her skin for some reason just didn't tan no matter how long she spent out in the sun. This gave her a fair complexion that drove a lot of men up the walls. Her raven black hair which flowed down to her waist like a curtain of silk only highlighted how pale she was. She wasn't super busty like some of the maids the men fancied but she definitely had enough to attract the vast majority of the male species. Like her new partner Luna's eyes were a rare gold color. So when this Sol guy didn't give her even a glance she felt her feminine pride sustain a small wound.

Luna cleared her throat again only this time louder. Now she had his attention. Slamming his book shut and he got up handing her the parchment. Breaking the seal Luna read the full details of what they were going to be doing. Like she knew before it was a simple killing mission. They were to go to some ruins north of the city and clear out all the monsters for some mages of the king. By the time she was done reading the orders Sol was gone. With a sigh she headed out of the building figuring she could at least get ready before she had to find the man again. Luna got out the door to find Sol standing next to a pair of chestnut brown horses. Both horses were ready with saddles and the normal pack of items they got for missions. Silently Sol climbed onto one of the horses waiting for her to do the same.

_Great not only does he do nothing but read, he's a mute._

Since Luna still had the scroll, with the map, she took the lead.

After an hour or two of riding Luna thought she was in hell. At least when she was partnered up before her companion would talk to her. But as one would guess Sol was reading a book as they rode towards their destination. She couldn't stand the silence any longer.

"What is so interesting about that book you're reading?"

Luna waited for the brown haired boy to answer. After a few polite seconds of waiting she asked him again. She tried two more times getting louder each time. It was evident that he was ignoring her. She led her horse up next to his and took the book out of his hands. He started daggers at her and reached to take the book back.

_Finally a reaction._

"Now, what is so interesting about this book?" Luna asked once again.

"Why do you care?" was all Sol said in return.

"Because you've had your nose in it since I've seen you."

Sol rolled his eyes. "If you really want to know it's a journal of an explorer who traveled around these parts. I thought it'd be nice to know more about the ruins we're going to. Unlike some people, I do research on the places I'm sent."

Luna was silenced. She tossed him back the journal. He was right; research on the ruins would be great. The people who built it most likely put traps in if the book had clues on how to avoid them that meant that Luna would continue to live at least a little longer. Let's face it life as a mercenary was a dangerous one. She could, and should have a few times, die at any moment on a job.

Still not wanting to sit in silence Luna probed Sol's mind to find out what he had learned about their destination. He confirmed the existence of traps, no surprise to either of them, and that it was only a one story building so they wouldn't have to worry about a basement full of monsters. The reason they were sent out was because it had once been home to a group mages. Magic wasn't something the normal person practiced but the mages of the king paid insane sums of money for magical artifacts hence why the two were sent out to clear the way for the mages. Luna had learned a simple fire spell so she didn't have to carry around a tinderbox or resort to rubbing two sticks together like a fool. After learning all Sol knew about the ruins she asked more personal questions. She found out he dabbled in magic and he knew three spells actually. He had come from a family in the slums. He joined the Knights because he had gotten letters from his elder sister telling him about all the good times she had while she was with them. His older sister had gone off a few years back to join a more famous mercenary group and she had stopped sending letters. Of course he questioned her just as much. She, like him, had come out of the slums. Luna joined the Knights because they were the only group around that would actually send a girl out on missions and take in anyone no questions asked. Unlike Sol she was an only child and her parents had died long ago. They spent the next few hours talking about jobs they had done and the idiots that they had worked with before. It wasn't long until they found themselves outside of the ruins.

Luna drew her long sword as she walked up to a wooden door. Sol was behind her sword in hand. One of the things she learned was that he wasn't the strongest guy out there. Rather he looked for weakness and fought defensively. He was the exact opposite of her. Luna made a weakness in her opponent by chopping off limbs. With the loud creaking sound that accompanied any old door the two made their way in. Luna was instantly glad she had a companion. Standing in the middle of the room was a Behemoth King. The creature was known for killing groups of people with ease. Sol tapped her shoulder and pointed to a hallway. She followed behind him as they very carefully made their way over. Once they were in the hall Sol used the hand signs taught by the Knights.

_Lead, monster, trap._

At the end he pointed to a mark on the floor. It was a magical symbol colored green. Luna had seen it before, anything that walked across it would trigger the trap and be inflicted with deadly poison. Luna smiled at Sol. He was brilliant; if they could get the Behemoth King to walk over it they could make quick work of the large monster. Luna only saw one problem with the plan. How were they to get over the trap themselves so that they could lead the Behemoth King to it? She asked Sol the question. He reached into his pack and drew out a red crystal. Her mouth dropped in awe at the artifact he held. It was a transport stone. It could teleport them only a few feet due to its small size but she was sure it could get them over the glyph. Their plan set the two started to make noise to attract the monster. They heard and felt it coming at them before they saw the Behemoth King charging down the hallway. Sol touched the stone to Luna and moved them, not over the glyph, but behind the charging monster. A flash of green light let them know that the trap had been triggered. Wasting no time Luna ran forward and starting her assault on her foe. Since the glyph's poison had done most of the work the two warriors felled one of the stronger monsters known to man. After the defeat of the Behemoth King killing the Flans, Goblins, and other random monsters that plagued the ruins was child's play.

When they had gotten back to headquarters Luna had a newfound respect for Sol. After submitting their report the captain called them to his room after hours to congratulate them on a job well done. He also informed them that if they could take down such a strong monster together that they could expect to be paired up again for future missions.

-Mika Flashback-

Walking through the woods with her newest client was a mercenary by the name of Mika. She was tall for a woman almost hitting six feet in height. Most of her height came from her long legs that were covered by a pair of black pants. Blonde hair that was dirty from travel was cut short so that it didn't get in her eyes when she was fighting.A loose fitting blue shirt hid the small curves of Mika's chest. Working out and fighting monsters did exactly equal a big chest. She still had enough of a figure that she couldn't be mistakened for a guy though. Her golden eyes darted every which way on the lookout for anything that might jump out of the woods to attack them.

Mika's client woman by the name of Rin. The woman was of the same height as Mika. Short dark blue hair framed an innocent face as sapphire eyes stared ahead sometimes darting back and forth as a branch snapped or the wind rustled the leaves too loudly. Now whereas Mika had a warrior's body muscles and scars gained from fighting monsters, Rin had a smaller more "feminine" body. Her skin was pale as a ghost from staying in the house taking care of "womanly" duties and her frame was slender as a twig. That wasn't to say she wasn't a busty woman though and her hips could entrance any man that walked by, or in this case Mika. That was the hard part about liking women. You couldn't really just proclaim it out loud without causing a large scene and many people trying to burn you at the stake for such things. Everyone Mika had run into, other than her younger brother, had thought there was a demon inside of her making her chase after women instead. No one ever caught her though as she was an apt Mage and with a simple Thunder spell she could scare away most idiots.

Rin had contracted Mika into taking her through the Goblin's Forest. At first Mika had been against it as nothing in the forest was enough of a challenge for a mercenary of her skill. Then when Rin offered twenty thousand munny for a simple trip Mika leapt at the offer. The normal rate for going through the Goblin's Forest was only five thousand. Being offered four times the normal pay Mika would have been stupid to pass it up. Now however, walking alongside the silent as a church mouse Rin, Mika started to regret her choice. The woman hadn't spoken since they left the village and that was four days ago. Even after Mika had asked her why she wanted to go through the forest or why she was willing to pay so much for Mika's services the blue haired woman had remained silent. After four days though the silent Rin broke her, well silence, as they reached the halfway marker for the forest.

"Miss Mika I would like to stop here for the day." She said in a soft voice that Mika almost could hear.

_Miss Mika. I like the sounds of that. _Mika thought to herself as she looked at the woman in confusion.

"Now why would you want to do that?" Mika asked. "It's not even noon yet. There's still over half a day of sunlight left to use."

"Because there is a rare plant that grow around here and it makes the most wonderful blue for painting." Rin said with a smile as she walked off the path and into the woods.

"Oh no you don't" Mika said grabbing Rin's shoulder and pulling her back onto the path. "There are goblins in there and your contract is only for escorting you through the forest."

"Exactly Miss Mika. I plan to travel _through _the forest. It is not my fault you failed to ask if I planned to use the trail." Rin explained the loophole to Mika her voice no longer soft but commanding. "Or did you think I would pay such high prices for something so easy as an escort on a path. I know the rates for you mercenaries and twenty thousand is still more than enough to cover this expedition into the forest."

The complete one eighty personality had caught Mika off guard. She had been outplayed. This woman had tricked her into doing more work than she had originally thought but the pay was still high. She could always quit and leave Rin alone in the forest but that just wouldn't sit right with Mika later. Especially if anything happened to her after she left.

"Alright smarty skirt, let's go get you this plant." Mika growled as she walked into the forest ahead of her client.

"I'm sorry to have tricked you but I didn't think anyone would come in here simply to help me get a flower. I had already tried three other mercenaries before you and they laughed at me and said 'If a woman wants flowers she should get her man to get it for her.' Then they all offered to show me what real men can do." Rin explained her voice having gone back to the previous soft and almost scared sound.

"Yeah most guys are pigs." Mika stated as they walked deeper into the forest. The trees were becoming more clustered together and Mika could smell swamps on the wind. "Listen do you know where exactly these flowers are supposed to be growing?"

"Yes in the center of the forest on trees that grown near the swamps. The decay of goblins that die in the swamp give life to the trees which in turn provide a special enzyme to these flowers that make their paste a very unique blue. As an artist it is my job to provide my clients with the best paintings I can." Rin told Mika as they continued towards the swamps.

"So you paint for a living?" Mika questioned easily thinking of ten things she would rather do than sit in front of a canvas and paint pretty pictures.

"But of course. I just said that." Rin giggled.

"Right." Mika said as she rubbed the back of her head in unease. "So do you need this for a painting you're doing now?"

"Yes but the painting isn't for a client. I have been working on a painting for myself of a knight and an Ice Dragon but I need this blue for the dragon's underbelly. None of the blues I have seem to match the icy blue of her scales." Rin informed Mika

"So you like those knights in shining armor slaying beasts stories?" Mika questioned

"Oh no." Rin said quickly. "The knight and dragon are working together to stop a dark force from entering the valley. The creatures a very peculiar and I've only seen them in my dreams. They are small and black with large flat feet and they are hunched over. They have round heads and two large yellows eyes. Little antennas twitch on their heads as the waddle about."

"If I ever saw such a funny looking creature I'd laugh myself to death." Mika proclaimed. Such a creature wouldn't make for much sport it sounded. If it did exists it probably won it's fights by making it's opponent laugh itself to death.

"Yes they do appear to be funny looking but a power exists in them and it strikes fear into my heart." Rin said with a shudder. "Oh Miss Mika!" Rin shouted. "There on the bottom of that tree."

Mika followed Rin's line of sight and spotted a blue flower. Its stem was a blood red colour leading up to very pale blue almost white petals. The petals were arranged in a perfect circle like a little landing pad for small insects. Mika went to go and pluck the flower but was stopped as she felt the air around her charge. Recognizing the familiar feel of magic Mika threw up a Shell spell around her and Rin. Lightning converged on the green shield causing cracks to appear in it.

Horse laughter echoed through the forest. The sounds of the forest's inhabitants. Goblins walked out from behind trees and into Mika's view. They were your standard green skinned, ugly as hell, dressed in loincloths, goblins. There were three wearing bone necklaces and a feathered headdress marking them as shamans. Stupid as goblins were the magic they managed to cast was powerful.

Clutching the spears of the humans they had actually managed to kill six goblins charged screaming their heads off. Reaching over her shoulder Mika grabbed her staff and magically undid the latch holding it on her back. Whipping it over her shoulder the end of the metallic rod slammed into the first goblin's head knocking him out.

"Stay near me Rin" Mika instructed.

The woman nodded her head and stood behind Mika putting the mercenary between her and the goblins. With a smile Mika stood her ground as the remaining five goblins tried attacking her all at once. Two of them tripped over their companions dropping their spears on the ground. Another one of the uncoordinated creatures then tripped on the fallen spear as he tried to throw his and managed to skewer on of the other three charging goblins. This was exactly why Mika had thought there was no challenge in the goblins forest. The idiotic things killed themselves before they even got to you. How anyone managed to lose to them was a mystery.

One lone goblin kept the charge going and thrust the point of the spear towards Mika who swatted it away with her staff and then followed it up with by bringing the staff down on the goblins head like she had done with the first one. As it fell down dead a jet of flame shot out from one of the shamans. Water gushed out of Mika's hand as she pointed her palm at the flames. The opposing elements clashed and canceled each other out. Using the moisture in the air from her attack she crystallized it into ice spears and slammed them into the fallen goblins leaving her with just the shamans to deal with.

Lightning from one of the other shamans flew towards Rin as Mika finished off the goblins on the ground. Unable to cast again so quickly Mika did the only thing she could think of. Spinning herself towards the lightning she extended her staff out. The metal staff acted as a lightning rod and pulled the spell into it and to Mika. As the electricity coursed through her Mika swore loudly. Once the effects of the spell wore off she was pissed to say the least. Sending her own Thunder spell at the creature she ran at it giving the goblin a choice of death by lightning or by angered Mage. It chose the first letting the spell slam into its body. Falling to the ground the goblin twitched a few times before the strength of Mika's spell finished it off.

Turning her attention to the remaining shamans Mika sent a dual jet of ice at them both. Without hesitation the two magic goblins turned tail and ran away from the magical mercenary. With a nod of her head like she expected as much Mika put her staff back into its holder magically sealing the clasps.

"Well let's get your flowers and get out of here before they come back with more." Mika said walking over to the tree where the blue flower sat undisturbed.

Picking the flower up Mika held it out towards Rin who took it in her gloved hand placing it in a large bottle. Together they both searched for more of the flowers and after half an hour of searching they had collected a dozen of them. Rin stated that they would be more than enough for her to use and even experiment with. They walked back to the path they originally deviated from. When they reached the well-worn path and light shone down on them Mika started to feel dizzy. Shaking it off and thinking that it was simply an after effect of the Thunder attack she suffered Mika continued to the path.

"Okay then do you really need to go through the forest to do you want to head back?" Mika questioned as she stood in the middle of the path her thumbs pointing in opposite directions.

"I want to head back Miss Mika. I live in the city where we first met. If you would be so kind as to take me there I would very much appreciate it."

"Then let's get going."

This time on the walk through the forest Rin was more talkative. She told Mika of paintings that she had done for clients. Rin was very descriptive of both the people she painted for and the art that she created for them. Apparently Rin's work was in high demand even among the nobles and it was because of them that she was able to sell her paintings cheaper to the regular citizens. Rin never put anything less than her all into any painting so even the common folk could have her best work hanging up in their homes. Her business sense was extraordinary and when Mika asked how she learned all of this Rin told her that her father had been a merchant. The trade routes, buildings, and everything associated with her father's business had gone to her younger brother. Her brother did finance her once in a great while if Rin couldn't find anyone to sell to.

"I don't live off of Siruis' money though." Rin stated sternly. "I have only had to ask for a couple hundred munny once. He did however make it clear that a woman of twenty three should find a man and settle down. 'It is how things are done dear sister' he said."

"I'm twenty two and gladly single." Mika declared with a grin. "Course it's a hell of a lot harder when you go off fighting whenever you please and finding someone to accept that."

"I find it very brave that you put your life at risk to help people."

"It's not always helping someone though. Helping one person can very easily mean hurting another. More often than you'd think I have to fight another mercenary who's been hired to prevent me from doing my job." Mika replied a twinge of sadness in her voice. "It's hard to do sometimes. Even more so when you have to fight someone that saved your life. All mercenaries know that it's a part of our job. Occupational hazard you might say."

"Why do you do it then?" Rin asked in a polite but curious tone.

"The pay's good if you have the skill. I started off in a group but once my skills developed I left and started out on my own. I get to pick my own jobs and get to demand my own prices that I don't have to split with anyone else." Mika told her. "Then there's months where you can't find shit for work and have to resort to doing things like farm work to keep food in your belly."

"Is this one of those months?" Rin giggled.

Mika hung her head. "That obvious?"

"Now that I've gotten to know you better."

"Gotten to know me better? We've been talking for less than a day."

"You wouldn't have come into the forest for the flowers if it wasn't one of those months." Rin pointed out. "This is clear because you seem to think highly of yourself and for good reason. After seeing you take those goblins out and protecting me so easily you must be highly skilled."

The two kept walking back to the village and talking about things they had seen and done. With each sunrise Mika felt a small pain in her hand that went away after she mentally shook it off. After the four days of walking back they came to the village where the two women met. Rin led Mika to her home a small wooden structure that looked like your standard peasant home.

The sun was high in the sky as Mika went to say goodbye to her employer. As she reached into her pouch to get the contract and have Rin sign it saying her work was completed Mika once again felt the small pain in her hand. Only this time it didn't go away as she tried to ignore it like before. The small annoyance that had plagued her for the last few days became a roaring fire that ignited her arm in pain. It didn't stop at her arm though as pain continued to cover her entire body.

Seeing Mika in pain Rin opened her door and ran over to Mika linking her arms under the fallen woman's then proceeded to try to drag the mercenary into her home. Mika was much heavier then she looked though and it took a great deal of strength on Rin's part to manage to get her over the threshold. Once they were inside Rin continued to drag Mika towards her bed. With a great deal of effort Rin hoisted Mika onto the bed.

"Just stay here I'll be back with an herbalist." Rin said.

Even through her pain Mika couldn't help but think. _Yeah like I'm going anywhere._


	2. Chapter 1

**(A/N): **On to the start of the real story. This is set before BBS and so Terra isn't all doom and gloom about failing the Mark of Mastery. So he should be a bit more upbeat about things in this fic. Then Hardships will happen and we'll have the Terra you all love/hate depending on who you are.

Jade: Told ya he wouldn't do it Mika.

Mika: Aren't you and Herald guys though? Shouldn't you both just be all about sex?!

Jade: That's a stereotype and you know it. If you aren't careful I'll stereotype you into the ground.

Mika: Fine. I'll settle for now.

Jade: Sorry for her. For those that don't know already Mika... she's a loud mouth to say the least. She likes to worm her way into things, she practically writes herself, and she's a diva. Hopefully she'll stay out of the Author Notes from now on... I doubt it.

Chapter 1

As part of their training Master Eraqus had sent his two pupils Aqua a teenage girl with a knack for magic and Terra guy with incredible strength and drive to a world called Clestia. Eraqus had opened the Lanes Between for his students. Both students were riding on their Keyblade Gliders to the world protected from the Darkness by their armor. Clestia was a place inhabited by both monsters and humans. There was a strong military presence on the world in the form of multiple mercenary groups. Kingdoms would pay the mercenaries to fight for their small armies rather than supply their own soldiers. When the kingdoms weren't fighting each other they would use the mercenaries to protect the villages from attacks by the creatures of the world. One of the mercenary leaders was what you would call an "off worlder". He and Eraqus knew each other from the time when the Keyblade Master was in training himself. Now as a favor the leader would accept Aqua and Terra into the group and they would be sent on the more dangerous missions as part of their training. Terra and Aqua's fellow apprentice Ventus had to stay back at The Land of Departure to undergo a personal training session with the Master.

"Hey Aqua." Terra's gruff voice echoed in his full helm. "Did Master Eraqus say where we're supposed to find this guy?"

"He just said follow the light and we should arrive at the right town." Aqua replied.

"Well I hope he's right. I don't want to get there and spend all our time trying to find the town. We're only supposed to be there for three months or so." Even though she couldn't see his face Aqua could hear the frown on Terra's face.

"Don't worry Terra. I'm sure the Master wouldn't give us wrong directions." Aqua tried to assure him.

One of the many stars that dotted the darkness grew into a sphere. It was green world with patches of brown and blue. A small light glimmered in the darkness as the path of the Lanes Between shimmered into existence. Even after Darkness had taken over the Light still connected the worlds together. A Keyblade Master had the power to open and close these paths. Once opened a path of light would emerge as a guide from one world to the other. This wasn't the first time that the two Keybearers had been to another world. Following the path of light down to the world they entered a small vortex that would take them out of the Lanes and onto the world. Coming out of the Lanes and into the world of Clestia the first thing Aqua noticed was how vast the landscape was compared to The Land of Departure. Her home was a small world and it got to her to be able to look so far out into the distance and still see so much, even if it was only trees at the moment. They flew a little bit over the vast forest till they could spot a town in the distance. Landing in the forest they returned their gliders to Keyblade form and dismissed the weapon along with their armor.

Aqua was a delicate looking girl under her armor. She was wearing a black and blue, high-collared halter top, two pink, intersecting belts over her chest, and black shorts. White bell-sleeves covered her arms and tan fingerless gloves . She also wore a small, segmented piece of armor on each of her upper arms. Black stockings ran up her legs reaching to about halfway up her thighs, leaving a small area of bare skin on her upper thighs. Two strips of blue cloth draped over either side of her hips, along with a smaller, white strip of cloth tied around her waist, draped in the same manner. Finally, she had on a pair of pointed, armored, silver boots with a sharp "hook" on the outer side of each. She had blue hair that fell down to her shoulder and framed the soft features of her face. Bright blues orbs looked over her surroundings taking in all that Clestia had to offer her.

With his armor gone Terra was revealed to be a tall guy with brown hair that went to the base of his neck in the back and has rather messy, vertical spikes with bangs that frame his face. Deep blue eyes stood out against slightly tanned skin. He had on two intersecting straps over his chest, almost resembling crisscrossed suspenders. A skintight, black, high-collared shirt that showed a more chiseled physique. His pants a dark grey near the top, with several loops for his belt and two buttons, both of which are undone. The rest of the pants are tan with a small, lighter stripe of tan on the bottom hem. A plain black wristband on his right arm, while his left arm is significantly more armored. The armor went from the top of his shoulder all the way down to his hand. It was segmented alternating between dark grey and dark red. His boots were armored in dark brown and gold.

Trees lined Aqua's vision in every direction she looked. Between the trees was almost as dark as night they were so close together. Only the small clearing that she and Terra had landed cast any light onto the forest floor. Unknown creatures stirred in brush that lined the ground. Training or not the forest exuded a creepy feeling that Aqua couldn't shake off. Looking off in the direction she had seen the town in Aqua started to head for it only to be stopped by Terra's hand on her shoulder. His large hand dwarfed her slender shoulder and the pressure he put on it stopped Aqua in her tracks. Terra pointed to his right where a wooden object jutted out from a bush. Looking closely at the object Aqua could tell that the wood had been carved with symbols unfamiliar to her. Eraqus had taught all three of his apprentices many different written languages. Oddly the majority of the worlds all spoke the same language or at least the world's magic made it that way. There wasn't much time to try and figure it out as whatever was holding the stick stood up. Aqua had seen many other creatures from various worlds either in person or pictures so she wasn't too disgusted by the creature that stood up. It was goblin and from the headdress it wore it was a shaman. Rainfell flashed into her hand as Aqua readied herself to fight. Another flash of light in Terra's hand announced the arrival of his Keyblade, Earthshaker.

Before either Keybearer could attack the goblin a bolt of lightning shot out from the cluster of trees and zapped the shaman's staff. With an ear shattering cry the goblin dropped its burnt staff and raced off into the forest. Not knowing what had shot at the goblin Aqua and Terra stood ready to fight whatever had performed the Thunder magic. Expecting another monster of some sort seeing as how this world was supposed riddled with them both off worlders were a little shocked to see two teenage girls step out into the clearing.

"See Rin I told you there were people here." the blonde haired girl said. She was holding a metal staff in her hand the tip of it still crackling with magical residue.

"And they have weapons Mika they could handle themselves. You're still recovering after all." Rin said in a motherly tone.

"Weapons? You call those _things_ weapons?" Mika gestured with both hands to Aqua's Keyblade. "Beside the stuff you gave me worked great. I feel fine."

"Your friend's right. We can handle ourselves just fine. Our master has trained us well." Terra spoke up defending his fighting capabilities.

"Calm down macho man." Mika's voice was more annoyed than anything else.

"Excuse me. You said you knew we were here?" Aqua interjected. Terra tensed up as he understood what that could mean for them. If this girl had seen them on their gliders then it could be a little disastrous for them. Many worlds didn't have the technology or magic for them to be riding on their gliders in view of the general public. Seeing something like that could lead to questions that Aqua wouldn't be able to answer. Only a few such as Keybearers were supposed to know about the existence of other worlds.

"Uh yeah. I didn't see you two or anything but I could feel a large amount of magic coming from this direction. No goblin has the firepower that I was feeling so it stood to reason that it was a human." Mika answered.

Aqua let out a sigh of relief. Mika had only sensed the magic exuded from the gliders. It would take someone highly sensitive to magic though to be able to sense the amount of power that she had described. From what they had been told of Clestia magic wasn't something that was openly practiced and was frowned upon by most. It was a shame then that this girl's power would be wasted on her world because the people feared magic. Looking the blonde over again Aqua could see what her friend had meant by still recovering. Her eyes looked a little sunken in and she seemed as if she was out of breath. Seeing as how Mika seemed to be a warrior of sorts by the way she talked then she shouldn't be out of breath when Rin, who looked frail, was doing perfectly fine.

"We should probably be getting out of here Aqua." Terra said dismissing his Earthshaker. If the disappearance of Terra's Keyblade startled either woman it didn't show on their faces.

"Where you two headed?" Rin asked stepping forward.

"I want to know what they're doing in this forest in the first place." Mika scoffed.

"We don't know the town's name but we're heading to the home of a mercenary group called the Knights." Aqua informed them. The town that she had seen in the distance probably wasn't the location of the headquarters. It hadn't looked large enough to house the fortress that Eraqus had described. Aqua had planned to ask the residents for directions when they got there but hopefully she could get those directions now.

"You're in luck... wait we haven't introduced ourselves yet have we?" Mika laughed. "Name's Mikaela but everyone calls me Mika."

"Oh my gods I'm so sorry. We should have introduced ourselves first. My name's Rin." The dark blue haired girl quickly curtseyed.

"It's fine." Aqua suppressed a giggle at Rin's expense. "I'm Aqua and this is my friend Terra." Even though she couldn't see it a flash of pain shot over Terra's face as he was referred to as a friend. Rin had managed to catch the look though.

"We were passing through the forest and got a little lost." Terra explained in answer to Mika's question.

"Stay on the path next time and you'll be fine." Mika scolded. "But like I was going to say. You're in luck Aqua. I used to work for the Knights. Once we get back to Rin's place I'll give you directions."

"That'd be great thanks." Aqua thanked her.

Rin followed after Mika who had taken point to lead them out of the forest. The only reason that they had been here was because Rin's necklace had broken and fallen to the forest floor the last time they were here. It had been a gift from her brother before she had left home to strike out on her own. It was a simple iron chain holding a painted heart locket. Inside he had engraved _Love ya sis_. Rin had worn that locket everyday since she had gotten it. When she realized that she could no longer feel the weight of it on her neck she had almost broken down and cried. The forest was a large place and it was likely that the goblins of the forest had taken it already. Mika had heard Rin trying to hold back sob and kindly asked her what was wrong. After telling Mika the blonde had offered to take Rin back in to find it. The doctor that Rin had gotten for Mika hadn't know what to do other than help dull the pain. Rin had used her knowledge of herbs and tonics she had picked up from herbalists that had stopped at her father's shop and books that she had read to whip up an antidote. It had helped Mika greatly and she had been back on her feet in a matter of hours afterwards insisting that they go into the forest to find the locket. That was how they ended up in the forest once again. They had found it at the edge of the road where they had left the path to go into the forest. The rion chain had rusted and broken.

It had only been a week since Rin had last been in the Goblin's Forest with Mika and Rin definitely felt that it was far too soon to be back. She wasn't a fighter by any definition of the word and the goblins scared her more than she let on. Having Mika by her side though made the trek into the forest much easier. Her blonde bodyguard was filled with confidence in her abilities and didn't seem like anything would phase her. Aqua seemed like she was cut from the same clothe in that regard to. The light blue haired girl with her odd weapon looked as if she was able to handle herself in a fight. Both women seemed like they had gone through some intense training in their life and were sure that they would be able to handle whatever the world threw at them. Terra with his muscled body looked as if he would be able to rip one of the goblins in two if he had the incentive to do so. With all three of them walking along with her Rin felt pretty safe in the forest.

Rin could feel a weight on her heart grow heavier as they came closer to the edge of the forest. Mika was a fun person to be with even when she was bedridden trying to fight off the effects of an unknown poison. Rin had listened closely to Mika as the blonde had told her all about Solaris. It was nice to see that a Mika had a brother that she was so close to. Rin was a little jealous in fact. Her brother only checked up on her when he came to collect a painting she had finished and acted all business rather than like family. From what Mika had told her the blonde had used part of her earnings to buy Solaris books. It was a sweet kindness that Rin wouldn't have thought a warrior would do. From her understanding most mercenaries cut all ties to their families so they wouldn't worry about them when they were out on missions. While Rin wouldn't admit it in the week that Mika had been staying with her Rin had been worried about the day she would leave. It had been nice to have someone there that didn't think she was crazy for living alone. More importantly Rin had started to feel an attraction to the blonde. It wasn't something she advertised but the reason Rin wasn't already married with kids was that she didn't care for men that way. Rin held out hope that she'd be able to find another girl like her and settle down. So much of her heart hoped that Mika was like her. Seeing as how she was now healed there was every chance that Mika would be on her merry way.

Watching Aqua and Terra walk side by side in conversation Rin wondered if maybe they were a couple. It was odd to see a man and a woman traveling alone unless they were together or family. They looked happy together Aqua had on a small smile whenever she looked away from Terra as if she didn't want him to see how happy she was in his company. At one point Terra must have said something that struck Aqua as funny cause she put her hand up to her lips to try and stifle a laugh. Aqua looked quite cute like that and Rin saw Terra's face light up a bit at Aqua's laugh. There was certainly something there between them but it looked as if they were oblivious to it. Rin had been slightly disturbed at the fact that both of them had made their weapons vanish back in the clearing. Magic made her skin crawl a little bit. It was nothing new to Rin she had seen magic performed a few times in her life but to make a weapon disappear was something she didn't know magic could do. Their weapons had been odd looking to. It was as if they were giant keys and they the edges looked more blunt than sharp so they probably weren't that great for cutting down monsters.

It didn't take long for them to reach the edge of the forest. They had only been a mile or two in when they had found Aqua and Terra. Rin was happy to be out of the forest and back in her hometown. Mika still in the lead and headed towards Rin's small house. With the sun high in the summer sky it was nice to get out from under its harsh rays. What Rin hadn't counted on when she left home was that she'd have visitors. A few of her paintings were lying around the house. They were unfinished works that Rin had lost inspiration for and planned to get back to later. Her work station where her latest painting was at was nothing short of a pig stye. Zipping past Mika who stood in the doorway Rin started picking up her unfinished works and moving them to the other room where she really should have stored them in the first place.

"I'm so sorry my place is a mess." Rin apologized as she shut the door to her storage room. "I really keep it clean but this last week has been a little hectic."

"You call that messy?" Terra chuckled. "You should see Ven's room. I'm surprised he's able to get the door open he's got so much junk piled in front of it."

"Look who's talking Terra." Aqua chided. "Master had to wear a gas mask to enter your room last time you slept in." Terra's face dropped and he started grumbling about how his room wasn't that bad. All three girls had a laugh at him.

"Well you probably want to be getting on your way." Mika said looking at Aqua. "It'd be best if you stay the night at the inn and set off in the morning. Monsters worse than goblins tend to come out during the night."

"Mika they can't stay at the inn." Rin frowned at Mika for suggesting such a thing. "Do you know how fast the men would be on Aqua even with Terra there? They wouldn't get a wink of sleep."

"Where else are they going to sleep?" Mika asked.

"Here. You'll just have to deal with either sleeping in a chair or in my room while Aqua will take the other room and Terra here can sleep on the couch." Rin answered forcefully. She had gotten caught up in the moment and gulped as her mind registered the fact she had basically told Mika that they were going to be sharing a bed. From the look on the mercenary's face she wasn't affected by the prospect in the least which was slightly disheartening to Rin. If Mika preferred girls than there should have been more of a reaction.

"We really don't want to impose on you two." Terra said. "I'm sure Aqua can deal with the guys at the inn."

"I'll have none of that talk Terra." Rin stepped in front of him her hands on her hips as she looked almost straight up at Terra. "Aqua might be strong but even you and your muscles would have problems trying to fend off six men and I promise you the men that come after Aqua will have weapons." Even with the height difference you could see that Terra felt he was being looked down on rather than looked up at.

"Rin's right you know. I mean hell I was there for an afternoon and had to knock a few heads together for them to leave me in peace. That was during broad daylight. Can't imagine what they would have tried if I had stayed the night there." Mika added.

"If she's offering Terra than there's no harm in staying here." Aqua assured her friend.

"No that that's settled I'll get to work on preparing dinner. I'll have to go see Fred about some more thyme if I'm going to be cooking for four." Rin headed towards the door and grabbed a bag that was hanging up on a peg. Putting it on Rin opened the door and turned around looking like she had forgotten something. "You three be nice and don't go into the storage room please." Rin then left the house and headed out to gather what she needed.

-BotH-

Mika lay next to Rin in the bed they were sharing for the night. This was a pleasant unexpected turn of events. When Rin had said they'd share a room Mika had about fallen over in shock. Only years of fighting the unexpected had stopped her from showing how she felt about it. Even still it had been a close call when Rin had looked over at her. It did raise the question in Mika's mind as to why Rin had bothered to look over but she was probably just checking to make sure that it was alright. Normally Mika wouldn't think twice about sharing a bed with someone. Many a nights she had shared a bedroll with a fellow mercenary out in the field. On the cold drafty nights in the Knight's fortress it wasn't uncommon to see people share a cot to keep warm. Something about sharing a bed with Rin though had thrown Mika for a loop. Rin was just another, highly attractive, girl so there shouldn't have been any reason that the prospect had shaken Mika so. It was more than likely because Rin had taken such good care of her while she was getting over the poison in her system. There was probably a little admiration and gratitude towards Rin for helping her with that. What had really threatened to floor Mika was when Rin changed into her nightgown without a care in the world that Mika could see her. Mika had spun around to "give Rin privacy" as she changed but the image of Rin stripping was burned into Mika's mind.

Today Mika was going to offer to take Terra and Aqua to the Knights headquarters. They might know how to fight but if they had gotten lost in Goblin's Forest it would be best if they had an escort with them. Once she was done bringing them there, and checking up on Sol, Mika would have to decide where she would head to next. Life as a solo mercenary meant less jobs but Mika couldn't stand taking orders from men that sat behind desks doing nothing more than counting the money the harder workers brought in. Mika would probably just go back to wandering around and playing things by ear. Rumors spread and where there were rumors there was work. Sometimes Mika had to play detective and figure out if the rumors were true before taking on a job. She didn't get paid for killing monsters that didn't actually exist. Part of Mika was jealous that Rin had a home to call her own and could support herself with her paintings. The desire to find a place to settle down was starting to grow in Mika and that same part wanted to call the bed she wa in home.

It was midmorning when Mika offered to take Terra and Aqua to the Knight's fortress. They gladly accepted the offer saying that they were new to the area and could probably get lost easily. Well Aqua admitted that fact but Terra was your average guy and refused to admit that he needed help. Mika respected that. Show no weakness and charge in head first was her normal way of doing things. Asking for help went against that. Mika packed up her belongs that she'd left in Rin's room and slung her staff onto her back. The tip was getting warped from the lighting she kept dispersing from it which meant that she'd have to look into getting a new one soon. Only a few smiths made weapons in mind with the wielder using magic and they all worked for the kings. So there was no way that Mika was going to be getting a magically resistant staff anytime soon. She had a better chance of learning a ward of her own than saving up enough to buy a enchanted staff.

"Hey Mika." Rin put a hand on the blonde's shoulder as she stood at the door waiting for Terra and Aqua. "When you're done taking these two to the Knights can you come back please. I have another job I need done but it's nothing urgent."

"No problem Rin. I was wondering where I was going to go afterwards anyways." Mika grinned like a chesire. "You sure it's nothing that you need now though?"

"I'm sure. I need some more plants for a painting that I'm planning on doing but it's going to take some time before I need them." Rin assured Mika.

"I'll be back in about a week and a half then. It all depends on if Sol's in between missions or not."

"Oh right. Your brother works for the Knights now. Hope he knows how lucky he is to have such a caring sister." Rin giggled.

_Right, caring. Left him alone with a sick father that couldn't do any work and no mother to look after him while I went and explored the world. Real caring._ Mika thought as her two traveling companions appeared at the door.

"Ready you two? It'll take about four days or so before we get to Knights HQ. Don't know where you came from but you got yourselves pretty close on your own. Now just trust me and I'll get you the rest of the way there." Mika's voice wasn't the normal carefree tone she normally used. It was like a mercenary instructing their charge on how best to keep safe. "I'm sure you know that monsters out there will eat you without a second thought but you two look like you can fight so I'll be expecting you to help should we run into anything."

"Will do." Aqua and Terra said in unison.

"Alright then. Let's get going we're burning daylight." Mika pointed to the road leading south out of town. The two walked on out of the door. Then looking back at Rin with a soft smile on her face. "I'll be back and we can go on another trip to get you more supplies before you know it."

"I'm counting on it. The passing merchants always overcharge for paints." Rin waved goodbye as Mika headed down the road. "And maybe I'll have worked up the courage to say something by the time you return." Rin whispered to herself.

**(A/N): **I just want to remind you all that this story is OC focused. Aqua and Terra are a part of it but Bonds is meant to expand Sol, Luna, and Mika giving them more depth while at the same time introducing Rin to the cast cause she does play a role in Hardships. Herald think about what we discussed about Hardships today.

Leave questions, concerns, and comments in the review box please. It'll make this story go so much faster I promise.


	3. Chapter 2

**(A/N):***Jade walks onto the stage looking around*

Jade: Alright it seems like she's occupied. Got good news for you Keyblade of the Heart fans. I'm currently working on the sequel when I have writers block for this story. I'm also doing a "four-shot" of what happens in between KotH and Hardships.

*Mika leaps onto the stage from out of the audience.*

Mika: And Jade gives me an entire chapter!

Jade: *facepalmes* The audience, why didn't I check the audience?! Rin get out here and take care of Mika, and no Mika I don't mean it like that. *Rin escorts Mika offstage* Okay with her occupied I can tell you all this. I got a Beta Reader for this fic. It's TorNathan! Tor got anything to say to my readers?

*A semi short girl with silver hair down to her shoulder blades and dark, deep purple eyes walks onstage holding a letter*

?: This is for you Jade.

Jade:: *takes letter* And you are?

?: Alexia, I'm Tor's OC. You should know this, you had to go into your PMs to pull up my name and description.

Jade: Right.

Letter: Nope. May the Love of Anuwëy guide you when all Hope is lost, TorNathan.

Jade: Alright then, on to the hopefully more grammatically correct chapter!

Chapter 2

It was a nice sunny day and many kids were out running about the streets of Artamila. Mothers called after their children as they went about their shopping. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and a cool breeze created the perfect temperature within the city. Birds chirped as they flew overhead. This was one of those rare summer days where it was cold enough that you could work all day and barely have reason to complain about the heat. Almost every resident of Artamila was out taking advantage of it. However, within the Knight's Fortress there was one mercenary that refused to go outside. Solaris was in the library poring over ancient books trying to figure out what secrets they might hold. Four books were laid out before him, each one in a different language. Sol was trying to find the location of a lost item and each book before him had mentioned it. Many explorers of Clestia carried books with them to record their findings. Until about one hundred years ago, the explorers didn't have reliable mercenary groups to hire on their expeditions, resulting in many deaths. This meant that their journals were lost to the world until another group of explorers made their way to the same place. Current mercenary work brought in a lot of these lost journals.

"How did I know I'd find you in here, little brother," a voice sighed from the doorway. Sol's ears perked up as he recognized the owner of the voice. Turning around in his chair to confirm what his ears told him, Sol saw his older sister leaning against the door frame. "Mika what are you doing here?" he asked, surprised, forgetting his books.

"Nice to see ya again Sol. You know the proper way to greet a sister you haven't seen in three years would be 'OH MIKA I'VE MISSED YOU SO MUCH'!" Mika clasped her hands together dramatically.

"The day I do that is the day you can start wondering about my sanity," Sol replied. He got up out of his chair and he walked over to his sister. Mika held out her arms and hugged her younger brother. Without warning, Mika wrapped her arm around Sol's neck, brought his head down, and started rubbing her fist into his head, giving him quite the painful noogie.

"I already wonder about your sanity," Mika laughed, letting go of Sol's neck. "It's a nice day and here you are in a library. Shouldn't you at least be out training?"

Sol rubbed the top of his head gingerly. He went back to his seat and started placing bookmarks in each of the tomes. Mika walked over and sat on the table picking up one of the books Sol had just closed. She looked it over with an analytical eye. Mika went over each of the books that Sol had been reading before she spoke.

"Trying to find out where _that's _at are we?" Mika questioned carefully.

"Yes. I know that I can be hung for researching _it _but someone has to find it." Sol looked at at each book on the table as if they were a treasure map without the large X to mark the spot. In essence that's what the books were, a treasure map, each held instructions on how to get to a temple that had long thought to have been lost. Not a single one of the writers had managed to make it past the third trap within the temple. Explorer Ceera had been the one to recover the other three journals that Sol had been studying. He had found the others and read their secrets within. On his last mission, Sol was sent to gather some belongings from Ceera's last known location. After finding the chest containing the four journals, Sol had kept them for himself.

"Dangerous territory brother. If anyone ever finds out you even _have _these books they'll be getting the ropes ready," Mika smiled mischievously, "but I digress. You aren't even going to be here to study them for much longer. Your captain has a mission for you. Sent me to come tell ya."

"He tell you what it was about?" Sol grabbed his bag that had been sitting by the chair and carefully placed the books inside.

Mika hopped off the table. "Escort service. You and some girl name Luna are heading out."

"Great," Sol groaned as he slung his bag over his shoulder, "like I need a headache while escorting some pompous nobleman."

"She good lookin'?"

"Mi-ka," Sol warned.

"What? Girl's gotta have her fun."

"You're my sister. Last thing I need to be thinking about is your definition of fun."

"Hey my dry spell is going on two years now. That girl I was seeing moved away," Mika defended.

"I didn't need to know that." Sol walked out of the library and headed out towards the entrance room where the captain would most likely be waiting for him.

Mika waited until Sol was out of the room before going through the books on the shelves. During her time with the Knights she had come across a few special journals herself. There was one that she had stashed away that held clues about the item Sol was researching. If he was willing to take the risk of the hangman's noose, than he should at least have as much information as possible. Heading to the west side of the room, Mika grabbed the ladder and climbed to the top. Inhaling dust as she got to the top shelf, Mika let out a hacking cough. Two sections in from the northern wall and the third book in from the left was a grey covered book. From how dark the grey was, it had probably been black when the original owner had first been writing in it. A flame was drawn on the cover of the journal. It was Avera's book. She was a famous explorer and the temple had been her downfall. Hopping down and landing on the floor with the grace of a cat, Mika jogged to catch up with her brother.

Standing in the corner of the entrance room was the leader of the Knights, Rex Verus. Brown reptilian-like eyes overlooked the rest of the room, watching the citizens of Artamila enter and exit. He smiled and waved to those that spotted him. His dirty blonde, unkempt hair went down to just above his shoulders; it was almost time for him to get it trimmed again. Much to the wonder of the Knights, Rex had pointed ears. As far as they knew he was human but his eyes and ears told a different story. Rex wore a white version of the Knights standard issue clothing. It was rumored that not a single drop of blood had ever gotten on his outfit. Sol headed over to the leader of the mercenaries. When he got closer he noticed two teenagers with the captain.

"Ah, good, your sister found you. Though I doubt it was very hard. Let me guess, library?" Rex chuckled.

"Yessir," Sol answered formally, adding a small bow to his commander. "Hopefully Luna will be as easy to find."

"Eager to work with her again, eh Solaris?" Rex joked.

"Honestly sir, no. She's a hot head and the last few missions you've sent us on would have gone far smoother had I worked alone like before." Sol replied curtly.

"Sorry, Sol. This job is going to require the both of you. You might be great at formulating strategies but you lack the guts to dive in headfirst."

As he was about to counter the captain's observations, Sol was tackled to the ground from behind. His bag went spiraling across the floor and hit the feet of one of the teenagers that had been talking with Rex. The teen, which from her legs and slender fingers appeared to be a girl, reached down and picked up the bag. Sol tired to get up but whoever had rammed into him had their foot planted firmly on his back keeping him pinned to the floor. Turning his head to try and get a look at who it was that was pinning him to the floor, Sol wasn't surprised to see Mika's face smiling down at him. Taking her foot off his back, Mika held out a hand to help him up. Sol ignored his sister's hand and brushed himself off. When he turned to face the person who had grabbed his bag Sol was taken aback by the beauty of the girl, her light blue hair framed a delicate face. Eyes the same blue as her stared at him with a curious look in them.

"You dropped this."

"Uh, thanks," Sol laughed awkwardly as he took the bag.

"Aqua, Terra, it was good times on the road but I got another job lined up so I'll be heading out now. Take good care of my brother elf-boy!" Mika pointed right at Rex as she yelled out elf-boy. Knowing that she had at least toed the line, Mika vanished into the crowd of people. You don't tease the leader of a mercenary group no matter how laid back he is. If he didn't say something, most likely his group would, and they wouldn't be using words to deliver their message.

"It still amazes me that Mika is your older sister, Solaris," Rex sighed as the blonde left.

"When you get to know the both of us, the family resemblance is clear. We both became mercenaries after all. Mika said you have an escort job for Luna and I?"

Speak of the devil and so shall she appear. Luna came in from outside, her long sword strapped to her hip. Sweat dotted her brow and her cheeks were red from the workout she had no doubt just gotten out of. While Sol spent his spare time reading, Luna spent hours perfecting her swordsmanship. She was considered a prodigy, given her age. Many of the older more experienced members were able to beat her, which only fueled her drive to train. No matter the instructor, Luna seemed to take a berserker approach, only worrying about injuries once they started to affect her. Bruises from blows dealt by practice swords could be seen on Luna's arms and one on her right leg, half of it hidden by her skirt. One would think that the bruises she obtained would teach her to be more careful in a fight but so far the lesson had yet to sink in.

Rex called out to Luna, beckoning her over. From the way she shuffled over to the group it, looked like she had pushed herself to her limits and was running on fumes at the moment. Sol just shook his head. That was the person that Rex wanted him to be more like. He didn't understand why he should fight with no regard for his own safety. It was far better to fight smart than it was to power through everything. He understood how Luna could benefit from learning how to fight like him, but not the other way around.

"Now that you're both here, I can explain your mission." Rex started.

-BotH-

Luna was in her room that she shared with three other girls. It was cramped with four beds and chests in the tiny space. There was just enough room between each bed that a person could walk sideways. Each chest sat at the foot of the bed holding clothing and items that the owner felt were special. Undoing the top button of her shirt, Luna reached for the chain around her neck and brought it out. Dangling at the end of the chain was a small iron key. Too many mercenaries had sticky fingers for Luna's tastes so pockets and pouches weren't the smartest place for the key to her belongings. A necklace was harder to get off without notice. A professional thief would still be able to do it but anyone with that kind of record wasn't employed with the Knights.

The chest in front of the far left bed was Luna's. Oak wood and a steel frame was all that stood between the world and the few items Luna could call her own. Opening the steel lock, Luna flipped the lid up. Inside lay three other sets of her Knight's uniform. Hidden underneath her uniforms was a red ball gown that she had to buy for the occasions when grateful employers would invite her to a party. It was very important to keep relations with the customers so they would keep coming back if they needed more help. A few sets of civilian clothes were tucked into the corner. At the very bottom of the chest was the item Luna was looking for. It was a small dagger that had been her father's. The plain sheath was attached to a worn, brown, leather belt. Opposite of the buckle, the fourth hole in was worn the most. Putting the belt on, Luna reached back and felt the hilt of the dagger jutting out. Drawing the blade out, she looked over the dagger. Two inches of dark grey iron reflected Luna's face back at her as she looked at the one memento she had of her father. He had given it to her when she was eight years old, only two weeks before he had fallen victim to highwaymen on his way to visit a friend in the next town over. A rap on the bedroom door brought Luna out of her memories.

"Come on Luna we have to get going. Aqua and Terra are waiting for us at the edge of the city already," Sol's almost monotone voice grated on Luna's nerves. He really seemed to run purely on logic which, while useful, made for an annoying partner.

"Just give me a second," Luna growled as she closed the lid to her chest. She locked it back up and put on the necklace holding the key. The door to the room opened and Luna fully expected to find Sol walking in to come get her. Turning on her heel Luna got ready to yell at the annoying male only to find that it was one of her roommates. Sol was still standing at the door, his back turned away so he couldn't see into the room. Luna didn't know whether to be thankful he was gentlemanly enough to not try looking or to be insulted that he wasn't looking. Shuffling past her roommate, Luna left her room, remembering to close the door.

"Let's go," was all Sol said in greeting before heading down the stone hallway. With a huff Luna followed after him.

Knight's Fortress was located on the east end of town. It was a great stone structure that towered over the buildings around it. A stone wall half as tall as the fortress separated the Knight's training grounds from the citizens. Two Knights were stationed at the entrance regulating the traffic in and out, making sure that there were never too many civilians inside at one time. Since the Knights took a job no matter how small, there was always a line of people at the gate that wanted help with some menial task. Life threatening jobs were few and far between, but that wasn't the reason that the mercenaries joined a group like the Knights. When Luna and Sol went to pass through the gate, they were stopped by one of the guards. He handed Sol a white envelope before letting them through; Sol just tucked it into his bag without even sparing the item a glance.

Navigating the streets of Artamila on such a nice day was grueling. Everyone was out and about getting the most out of the day that they could. To say the streets were packed would be an understatement. Normally, people would make way for anyone wearing a sword not wanting to cause trouble. If the swordsman was in the Knight's black, the streets would practically clear up any congestion. Today was an exception to the norm. Luna had to lead the way, forcing open a space large enough for her to fit through, leaving Sol to try and squeeze past after her. Three quarters of the way to the other side of town where they were to meet up with Terra and Aqua, Luna heard the soft hiss of a blade being drawn. With so many people around her Luna reached for her dagger instead of her sword, only when her hand went to grasp the hilt of the dagger, she found it missing. Panic set in as Luna looked around for the thief. When she managed to turn fully around Luna saw Sol holding a guy up by his throat. At the person's feet was Luna's dagger sitting in the dusty ground. Paying no attention to the fact that Sol was practically choking the life out a man, Luna used all her strength to push past the few people that separated her from her treasure. She picked up her dagger and it took a great deal of control to not shove it into the thief's ribs. She instead returned it to the sheath on her belt. Sol let go of the man who crumpled the second he hit the ground, unconscious.

"Can't believe someone would try to steal a weapon in broad daylight," Sol scoffed as he walked around the unconscious man.

"Hey Sol… thanks." It was clear from how reluctantly she said it that manners were forcing Luna to thank Sol rather than genuine feelings.

"It wouldn't do well if it got out that a Knight lost their weapon to a common thief. Take better care of your knife." Sol marched out in front of Luna clearing his own path through the mob.

There were no more problems on their way to the city's western gate. It had taken a good twenty minutes to get to the gate but Luna spotted both Terra and Aqua standing just outside the city limits. Terra was swinging around a large great sword; the steel blade had a slight pale green aura around it, the tale-tell signs of a magical blade. Only those who had a king's ransom in gold could afford such a weapon. Magic blades never dulled and could pierce even the strongest monster hide. Of the Knights, only Captain Rex had such a weapon. Aqua was sitting beneath a nearby tree watching Terra swing a blade so large one might think he was overcompensating for something. A sheathed katana was laid across her lap. Even when it was sheathed, the pale green aura could be seen around the weapon.

Luna smiled as she watched Terra swing the great sword around with seemingly little effort. Tossing her bag to Sol, Luna drew her long sword the second she got out of the city. Luna charged the muscled brunette. Terra looked confused for a few moments before he figured out why Luna was charging at him with her sword drawn. Luna quickly closed the distance between her and Terra. Starting with a slash upwards, she expected Terra to block her attack like most males did, it was never until they fought her that men thought Luna could pack enough force into her swing that dodging was the better answer, so when Terra moved out of range Luna was left wide open. Taking advantage of the opening he unintentionally created, Terra performed a powerful pommel smack on Luna's shoulder. Sounds of bones crunching could be heard as the metal pommel connected with the mercenary's shoulder.

"You're good," Luna said as she took a horizontal slash at Terra. This time he did what Luna expected him to, blocked. Using the power in her body that would have been used in the slash Luna spun away from her foe. Keeping close to her opponent, Luna launched a series of slashes at Terra. Even with her left shoulder broken Luna kept coming at Terra with everything she could pour into her right arm. Her long sword was more maneuverable in such close quarters than his great sword giving her a slight advantage as it took all of Terra's concentration and effort to move the large blade to block.

"Shouldn't we stop them?" Aqua asked as Sol came to stand next to her.

"I don't know about Terra but Luna isn't going to be satisfied until one of them win." Sol plopped down on the ground, sitting crisscross and placing his bag in his lap while he placed Luna's next to him. He watched the two combatants go at it, both of them grinning when they managed to land a blow.

"So you're Mika's little brother? She talked a lot about you on our way here."

"She did? Can't imagine she'd have much to say. She hasn't sent a letter in three years and then all the sudden, she appears at Knight's Fortress acting like it was just yesterday that she had written to me." While he didn't want to be rude it was overwritten by the desire to cut the conversation short. Sol reached into his bag and dug out one of the journals he'd been reading back in the library. Flipping it open to the last page he'd been on, Sol brought the book up to his face, effectively shutting out the world around him. However, fate was cruel, and the letter that Sol had gotten from the guard fell out of the bag as he had pulled out the book. A gentle breeze brought the envelope to rest next to Aqua's leg, picking it up she looked at the back and noticed there wasn't a seal on it. Flipping it over to see if anything was written on the front, Aqua found in neat cursive a single name: Mikaela.

"This fell out or your bag just now." Aqua tapped Sol on the shoulder as she held the letter out. Sol pulled his book down and looked at the stark white envelope. Snatching it out of Aqua's hand a little more aggressively than what was considered appropriate, Sol tucked it into the back of the journal using the weight of the pages to hold it in place. He then brought the book back up to his face, signaling that he still didn't want to talk. "I know we just met but don't you want to read that? Your sister clearly wanted to tell you something if she went to the trouble of writing it out like that."

"I'd prefer it if you kept out of my family business. Mika might be my sister but I don't exactly feel like being brotherly to her at the moment. I'm on the job right now and that takes precedent over everything else." Sol never once looked up from his book as he spoke. In fact the only thing he did do was flip a page.

"Hey Aqua! Do you have a Hi-Potion or two on you?" Terra called out. Both he and Luna were covered in small bleeding cuts.

"You only won... cause I just... got out of... training," Luna panted just before she fell backwards.

"I have a few," Aqua sighed, getting up. She reached into a pocket on her shorts and pulled out two blue bottles decorated with two green stars and a yellow crescent moon. Tossing one of the potions to Terra she headed over to Luna who was still lying face up on the ground. Luna was still conscious and when she caught whiff of the Hi-Potion she almost pretended to be dead rather than drink the foul smelling liquid. Aqua wouldn't have any nonsense and poured the potion into Luna's mouth. Sitting up quickly Luna coughed as some of the potion went down the wrong pipe. "You two Neanderthals done now?"

"Neanderthal?" Luna questioned, unfamiliar with the word.

"Meat head," Terra translated for her. Luna's mouth made an O shape in understanding. "Aqua's a little high brown when it comes to insults. Don't worry, you'll get plenty used to them."

"What's that supposed to mean Terra?" Aqua baited him.

"Just speaking from experience. You insult me often enough that my vocabulary's improved cause I have to look up what the words mean," Terra answered.

"So you admit you're an idiot?" Luna laughed springing the trap.

"What? NO!" Terra shouted realizing that he'd done just that.

Both girls laughed at Terra as he tried to worm his way out of the insult he had delivered to himself. Luna stopped laughing though when rain started to fall. No one had noticed that dark clouds had started to creep in while they had gotten ready for the trip. Luna ran over to her bag next to Sol and took out a black cloak with the Knight's symbol stitched on the back in red. Sol had grabbed his already and put it on the second that rain had started falling. Neither was worried about the contents of the bags getting wet; they were made from Aqua Lizard hide, a common enough amphibious monster that lived by lakes and had learned to use human weapons, which repelled water.

"Rain at the start of a journey is never a good sign," Sol said as he pulled his hood up and walked towards the road leading north.

"Why not?" Terra asked.

"They say it symbolizes the tears family members shed at the loss of the traveler," Luna whispered tucking her hair into her cloak before lifting her hood up.

"That's so sad," Aqua replied as she looked up at the grey sky.

-BotH-

"I freaking hate the rain!" Mika shouted as she ran down the path looking for a place to seek shelter until it let up; she had forgotten her cloak back at Rin's, making the rain far worse. There weren't many trees around her, only farmland. Staying at some random family's farm was always an awkward moment that Mika didn't relish in. Everyone stared at you like you were some freak on display as you tried to eat your meal in silence. Or it was worse when they talked about their boring as hell daily life. Mika knew that if she ever stopped being a mercenary, a farmer was at the bottom of the list of things she was going to be afterward. The only good thing about being a farmer was the horses. Magnificent creatures and beasts of burden that had to be broken before they could be put to work.

After spending half an hour jogging down the road, Mika found a cluster of trees off in the distance where she'd be able to make some semblance of a shelter. With a destination in sight, Mika ran as fast as she could, ignoring the needle like rain pounding against her skin. Reaching the trees, Mika bent over as she caught her breath, safe from the rain under the leafy branches. Breaking off a few of the lower branches that hadn't been soaked by the falling rain, Mika arranged them into a small teepee like stack. She stuffed a few leaves in the middle of the stack and shot a small jet of flames at the leaves. In a few short minutes the flames had taken a hold of the sticks and started to burn happily in the cool air. Taking a string out of her bag, Mika set to work moving a few of the tree branches to better protect herself from the rain, they might have been preventing the water from assaulting her at the moment but given time the rain would trickle down the leaves and onto her if she didn't do something to prevent it.

Happy with her hastily formed shelter, Mika grabbed another set of clothes out of her bag. It wouldn't do well to catch a cold from wearing wet clothes. After a quick change, Mika set her drenched clothes near the fire to dry faster and sat herself in front of the flames. Staring at the sky and seeing black clouds in every direction Mika let out a sigh. It was going to be a long time before the rain let up.

_I wonder if brother's read the letter yet. Probably not. He didn't seem that happy to see me. _Mika brought her knees up to her chest and scooted closer to the fire to warm herself up. _Three years is a long time with no contact. I remember sending him a letter every month. His replies were always so happy. He'd tell me all about what was happening at home and how things were going with his application to the Knights. Gods I'd have to sift through so many research notes he thought would be useful. I wondered how he fit it all in one envelope. Now though, it looks like he's been put through the wringer and came out worse for the wear._

"Argh," Mika groaned as she tried to forget the happier times and come back to reality, "I gotta get out of this funk. Sol's all grown up now." Still Mika couldn't help but stare at the crackling fire in front of her and reminisce about older days.

**(A/N): **Rex Verus belongs to The Unknowing Herald. It was high time _I _got to use one of _his _OCs. I might have made him more powerful in here than Herald has him, but I haven't seen Rex's true strength yet so it could be the correct caliber.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Rex sat at the desk in his office looking at the letter that he had gotten from his friend Eraqus. Somehow, the Keyblade Master had managed to get the letter into the regular mail system of Clestia and have it sent to Rex. Eraqus had been right about his pupils, they showed great promise but were still lacking real field experience. At the Keyblade Master's request, Rex had given Aqua and Terra two weapons from his personal collection. Being the leader of the world's most respected mercenary gang came with a few perks. One of those perks was ancient enchanted weapons that never dulled and could pierce almost any hide. Rather than have Eraqus' students use their Keyblades which granted them extra strength, both magical and physical, Rex had given them two weapons from his own personal stash. He kept all the enchanted weapons in a locked room that had only one entrance. The only way to get in was through Rex's office. A few of the mercenaries knew the fundamentals of magic and had reinforced the walls with magic to prevent people from breaking in.

It had taken some convincing to get both Keybearers to forgo their special weapons for a more normal blade; he didn't want too many people wondering where they got the Keyblades from, after all. When Rex had finally convinced them and let Aqua and Terra into the sealed room so that they could select their preferred weapon, Terra had instantly looked at one blade in particular. In the back of the room, a lone great sword was hung up. There was nothing else around it drawing the attention of whoever walked into the room towards the large blade. The blade was black, with tan edges, and a center strip of red lava made up the look of the blade. Unlike the other swords in the room, the blade wasn't flat and made out of pure metal. Instead the blade looked more like segmented scale plates layered atop one another. The handle was a thin shaft ending with a cone-shaped pommel. Amongst all the other weapons that hung on racks or lay on tables, that one blade stuck out like a sore thumb.

Seeing that Terra had spotted the hanging sword, Rex placed his hand on the teen's shoulder. "That's the one blade you can't use I'm afraid. It's my personal blade, the Akantor Kingsword. It's a memory from my homeworld."

"I see. Master Eraqus did say that you weren't native to Clestia," Terra thought aloud.

"If you don't mind us asking Sir Rex, how did you manage to get to Clestia?" Aqua asked as she picked up a short sword lying on a table, testing its weight before putting it back.

"Magic, and not my own. I met a woman back home who was quite the looker. I'd just come back from a mission and was celebrating with my team when I saw her. A few drinks later, we're heading back to my place." Rex looked uncomfortable even at leaving it open to what exactly had transpired that night. From the look on his face it was clear as a bell what he and the woman had done. It was always odd to tell the tale, more so when there was a woman in the room as he told it. They always judged him wrongly. "Come morning she's gone and I go to head out. I reach my door and this funny feeling comes over me. Next thing I know I'm barreling through space and make a rough landing here on Clestia." The entire time, Rex had been looking directly at the Kingsword. His eyes had glazed over as if he'd been taken back to that morning when his life had taken a dramatic turn.

"So why haven't you let Master Eraqus take you back home?" This time it was Terra who asked the question.

"I had already set up the Knights by the time I met Eraqus. Too many people here count on me to just up and leave," Rex said with a shrug. "You two picked out your weapons yet?"

"Yes," Aqua and Terra said in unison. Aqua had taken a blue-hilted katana with a matching blue sheath. Hidden within the sheath was a steel blade that looked like your average sword. Only one thing marked it as an enchanted blade: the green glow that clung to the steel. Terra had picked a simple looking great sword with no handguard, which could come and bite him if he wasn't careful. Like Aqua's katana, the blade had a faint green aura around it, the only thing making it stand out against normal swords.

"Perfect," Rex said, patting them both on the back. "Now for your mission, two of my mercenaries will accompany you so that you don't get lost. Clestia is a large world and there are a lot of things out there that think humans are food."

"But I thought the Master wanted us to fight against these monsters, why avoid them?" Terra questioned, not fully understanding why they were sent here if they weren't going to be fighting monsters.

"Because monsters make dens," Rex said matter of factly, "and some of them are smart enough to make traps at the entrance to their territories. It wouldn't do you much good if you were killed before you even got to the monsters."

"I see. I'm sorry Rex." Terra bowed as he apologized.

"Alright. Now off to the north, past the Boreas Mountains, there is a small village that has sent reports of a Fire Demon running around. These guys normally aren't much trouble if you can get to them when they're small. But that's not the case from the sounds of the scout's reports. It's a full fledge demon and it's looking to destroy the area. We've named this Demon, Ifrit," Rex explained, looking at both Keybearers as if trying to spot any weakness in them, weakness that might say they weren't ready for such a task.

"There anything we need to know about this Ifrit before we set off?" Aqua politely asked.

"One of the two I'm sending with you, Sol, has researched Demons. He'll know what to do once you guys get there. We should head out to the main entrance and wait for your escorts." Rex headed out of the vault of weapons, closing the door once Aqua and Terra were out. Taking a ring of keys off his belt, Rex locked the door with one of the many iron items. Producing another key from his pocket, Rex locked another keyhole above the first. One could never be too careful when protecting powerful weaponry.

-BotH-

"Did you say a _FIRE DEMON?!_" Luna shouted in surprise as Terra told her what they were going to be facing. Both Sol and Luna had the feeling that they weren't actually doing a simple escort mission. If Terra's draw with Luna yesterday was any indicator of their abilities, they didn't need protection.

"I can't believe Captain Rex didn't tell us before leaving," Sol reasoned, looking in his bag and taking a quick inventory of what was there. "We'll have to stop in the next town and stock up on the needed items."

All four travelers sat around a fire, letting it warm the cold morning air. They had set up camp a few yards away from the edge of the road so that anyone traveling past wouldn't disturb them. It was open field as far as the eye could see and it was slightly disheartening as when you traveled. The landscape didn't change enough, causing it to look like you hadn't moved a single step. Only a random gathering of bushes broke up the monotony of the scenery. Yesterday's rain had stopped during the night; dark clouds still hung in the sky looking ready to drop another load at any given moment. Gazing up at the clouds, Sol took a deep breath as he tried to recall all that he'd read about the elemental Demons. They came in three stages; Lesser, Normal, and Greater. Only when a Demon reached the Greater stage were they given a name. Ifrit was what Terra had said the monster was named, meaning that it was at the top of the list in strength. Greater Demons presented a challenge because they could only be defeated by a weapon enchanted with the Demon's elemental weakness or a spell of the opposing element. Sol only knew three spells and he'd yet to find a scroll or book with instructions for a water spell, which would be a Fire Demon's weakness. How did Rex expect them to best a Greater Demon without the proper magic?

"Aqua, Terra, can either of you use magic?" Sol asked them, hoping that his captain hadn't sent them out on a fool's quest.

"Yes," Aqua answered, "why do you ask?" Sol explained what he knew about Demons and what they were going to need in order to realistically stand a chance at defeating Ifrit. He listed a few potions and salves that'd be beneficial as Demons at that strength could exude a poisonous gas along with casting magic of their element. Few shops sold the items but if they looked in each town they passed through, they should be able to get what they needed before reaching the Boreas Mountains.

"What was the Captain thinking, sending us out like this? He should have lent us water blades so we'd actually be of some use," Luna complained, running her hand across the hilt of her simple sword.

"I think he did it on purpose," Terra said, trying to ease the tension that was starting to build between the two mercenaries. "Our Master sent us to the Knights to gain some real world experience. Maybe Rex didn't tell you about it so that me and Aqua would have to fight it alone."

"A Greater Demon isn't what I'd give you as your first 'real world' experience. Rex should have sent you to clean out a Flan's Den or something equally as simple," Sol told them as he stood up and picked up his cloak that he'd lain down as a barrier between him and the wet ground. Taking a deep breath, Sol concentrated and found the source of magic inside him that all living creatures possessed. Taking a hold of the power inside, Sol pulled on a small part of it and brought it out into the physical world. Once outside of his body, the power tried to take on a form of its own. Guiding the power, Sol willed it to turn into heat and flash-dry his cloak, creating a little steam in the process. "We need to get going if we're going to be of any use to that town the Demon is attacking."

Luna got up, nodding her agreement which confused Sol slightly. He hadn't expected that she would be the one backing him up on it. The only thing he could think of was that Luna knew the gravity of the situation; Demons weren't something that normal people would be sent to deal with. Rex and the town under attack were trusting both Sol and Luna to guide their charges safely across the mountains to their destination. It was a two week journey by foot to the base of the mountains. From there they would have to pick going through or going over the mountains. Summer would soon be changing to Autumn, causing the pass over the mountains to become dangerous. Going through would be filled with its own hazards. Orcs, trolls, and wyrms were just a few of the monsters that made their homes within the Boreas Mountains, and they'd be ready to pounce on any travelers that were seeking to use their caverns to go through the snow capped peaks.

Gathering up their belongings, the four started out on the road again, after making sure the fire was out of course. With the grey clouds still prominent in the sky, the travelers were a little weary about packing their cloaks up. Deciding that it'd be safe to for a while at least, they threw the items into their bags with just a little part of it sticking out so they could quickly retrieve it should a sudden downpour happen. Attaching his sword to his belt, Sol saw the white edge of the envelope containing the letter his sister had written sticking out of his pocket. He had meant to read it last night but the pouring rain had put a damper on that idea. Now with no rainfall he was tempted to open the envelope and see what had been so important for Mika to write that she couldn't have simply told him when she found him in the Knight's library. Knowing his sister, he assumed that it was something that she didn't feel comfortable discussing aloud. There were a few matters that fell into that category but Sol had a feeling it was something that he shouldn't read in the company of others. It'd have to wait until they got to the next town and stayed at the inn where he could possibly rent his own room.

Luna took the lead heading down the trail, quickly followed by Terra and Aqua with Sol bringing up the rear. Simply walking to the next town felt like a waste of time in Sol's opinion, so he reached into his bag and pulled out one of the books that he had stored within. Looking at the cover, he didn't remember packing the book he held. It had a dark grey binding with a flame painted onto the cover. Opening to the first page, Sol read a name that he was very familiar with: Avera. Her journals had been copied many times over the years for distribution to the mercenary groups, places of study, and noblemen's libraries. Not a single explorer had written more journals than Avera; she was a legend amongst aspiring travelers and would-be archeologists. Every single one of her entries had some information tucked away inside. She never wasted time describing something useless like how the glass panes still hung in the window of the temple she was visiting. While it might make reading the journals more interesting to the common folk, for mercenaries like Sol, who read the books for information, it was a godsend that she got right to the point.

Flipping through the worn pages, Sol tried to figure out where Avera had gone to when she had started writing this particular journal. Much of the text had faded and was hard to read, but a few entries into the twelfth page, Sol spotted a set of words he hadn't expected to read: Ignis et Glacies. Sol almost dropped the worn journal in shock. Avera had been to the forbidden temple. Flipping to the last legible entry he could find, Sol read as quickly as he could while still retaining the information written on the pages. Reading the faded and smudged handwriting was hard while walking, but from what Sol was able to pick out, Avera had made it farther into the temple than any of the others had. If he could sit down and go through the entire book and compare it with the others in his collection, he'd be able to traverse the majority of the traps in the temple and come close to the inner sanctum. The temple was supposed to guard a weapon of magnificent power that could put the enchanted swords they normally found to shame. It was said to hold enough power within that it could bring destruction to an army if the wielder was strong enough. Many people had tried to brave the temple after the weapon had been sealed away. So many died trying that it became forbidden to enter the temple and the location was lost to time, only lucky explores stumbling across it. If they made mention of it in their journals, they were executed to prevent the knowledge from leaking to the public. However, a few journals had slipped through the cracks, sometimes literally in the ruins where the owner met their untimely demise. These journals still held instructions on how to reach the Ignis et Glacies Temple. If Sol read all the books correctly, the temple was near the highest peak of the Boreas Mountains, not far off the path they'd have to take to get to the town being attacked by Ifrit.

-BotH-

Rin looked over the incomplete painting in front of her with a critical eye, trying to figure out where her next brush stroke needed to be placed. As she tried to figure out what to do, she tapped the wooden end of her paint brush on her leg in impatience at her own inability. Her leg was covered by an apron that had once been tan but now had splotches of various colors on it from mishaps and boredom. Looking at the cliché sunset painting that her rich client wanted for his foyer, Rin twirled her paint brush and dipped the tip into a clay jar filled halfway with an orange-yellow paint. The fine tipped brush dripped paint back into the jar as Rin held it overtop trying to see if there was a better spot for the stroke she was about to make. Not seeing anywhere else, Rin added another ray to the sun setting over a forest of trees with red and yellow leaves. Pleased with how it turned out Rin went back to looking over the painting, trying to figure out if there were any other touch-ups that needed to be done with the sun. However, she was interrupted by a knock on her door.

"Just a minute," Rin called out, placing her brush in a glass of water turned murky from all the excess paint that clung to the brush. _I wonder if it's Mika, she should be getting back soon. Maybe I should make a move on her soon. As father always said "nothing ventured, nothing gained" he was talking about business but it applies elsewhere._

Not bothering to take her apron off, Rin walked across the room and opened the door to find it wasn't Mika. Instead, a short woman, a few inches shorter than herself, was standing in the doorway. She had light blue hair almost the same shade as Aqua's and amethyst eyes. While the woman wouldn't be considered portly she did look well fed. On her neck was a silver choker with sapphires set in it, a few dangling down over the woman's white blouse. She wore a tan ankle-length skirt and three rings on each hand each set with a different gem. Rin unconsciously gulped as she looked at the woman, a visit from her mother couldn't be a good sign.

"Rin," her mother said curtly, "are you going to invite your mother in or are you just going to stand there like some buffoon?"

"Sorry mother," Rin apologized as her wits came back to her, "please do come in." Rin moved out of her mother's way letting the "full figured" woman into her home. Closing the door once her mother was inside, Rin wondered just what she was doing here, now of all times. They hadn't spoken since Rin had left home to go and live on her own a few towns away from her family. She hadn't exactly left on good terms with her mother so it was quite a shock to have seen her on the other side of the door.

Rin watched with worry as her mother looked over the room as if trying to spot anything wrong with it. Her mother was a critical woman and had rarely spoken a kind word to either of her children. It was one of the many reasons that Rin had moved towns away rather than live near her family. Her mother squinted at the counter where a plate from Rin's lunch lay unwashed. One plate was all it could take to send her mother into a frenzy about what a pigsty the place was. Surprisingly enough, her mother didn't do anything more than look at the plate before she moved to one of the chairs around the dining table. Taking a seat, her mother motioned for Rin to sit down across from her. Acting like she owned any place she walked into was just another wonderful trait of the woman Rin was forced to call mother. Without a real reason to refuse, Rin took the seat her mother had pointed to.

"You keep a tidy place, daughter."

Rin just about fell out of her chair, there was no way in the world those words had just passed her mother's lips. "T- Thank you, mother."

"Have you found yourself a husband yet, daughter?" There was no emotion behind the question. It was as if her mother were asking her if she had seen the new dresses that the noblewomen wore.

"No I haven't. Is that why you've come here, to see if I have plans to get married?" Rin asked, slightly hurt that her mother could have possibly come for such a trivial reason.

"Of course. If you choose not to find one for yourself than your father and I must step in and see that you have someone to take care of you should something happen." Only years of dealing with her mother's uncaring nature softened the blow of the fact Rin had been right about her mother once more.

"But mother-" Rin started trying to get a defense started before her mother went on a rant.

"No buts Rin. You have spent far too long chasing _women_." Her mother spat the word "women" like saying it would somehow cause her to become ill. "It is high time you stopped messing around and started a family. Don't you want children of your own? You will never have that if you continue as you are."

"I want a family but I will not lie to myself, mother. I have told you and father before that my preference in bed partners is _not _a choice. Just as you find it unappealing to sleep with another woman I find it unappealing to sleep with a man, even if this means I'd have to forgo giving birth to my own child." Rin kept her calm throughout her speech, never once raising her voice to her mother, even if she did deserve it. Her mother, however, had started turning red with anger at the start of Rin's speech and had gone beyond tomato red by the time her daughter had finished.

"Thankfully, your brother agreed that you'd be far too stubborn to listen to reason. We have arranged your marriage to one of our business partners. You will come back with me to Voria to meet your husband."

"What does Siruis have to do with this?" Rin questioned, worried about how her brother was involved. It wasn't surprising that her mother had arranged for her to be married, many people had arranged marriages. While Siruis hadn't been exactly supportive of Rin's lifestyle he was the only one she had to talk to from her family. With their father frequently off on business and an emotionally distant mother, they had grown quite close when they were living together. Even now they still saw each other about every three months when he'd come to pick up a painting or request a new one.

"Siruis has agreed that if you don't agree to this marriage than he will stop selling your paintings."

Rin looked like she had been dealt a physical blow as she processed the information her mother had just given her. To learn her brother was siding with their mother on this brought tears to Rin's eyes. She had always thought that he would be there for her no matter what she ended up doing. Now he was turning his back on her in an attempt to get her to conform to a normal woman's role. It wasn't right that her family thought so little of her that they would be able to force her into something she clearly didn't want to do. Using the top of her apron, one of the small areas still clean, Rin dabbed away the streaks her tears had left on her face. As much as it hurt she couldn't afford to cry at the moment, she needed to be strong so her mother wouldn't prey upon her weakness.

"Then I'll have to find another merchant willing to sell my works," Rin said as firmly as she could muster given the situation. With a heavy heart, she looked over at the painting that she was finishing up for a client, a client that her brother had gotten her. "Should that fail my knowledge of herbs should be enough to get me by."

"With another herbalist in town? You'll be lucky if anyone comes to you," her mother scoffed.

A knock on the door stopped Rin from saying anything back to her mother. Choosing not to extend her mother the courtesy of excusing herself, Rin stood up from her chair and went to open the door. Mika stood in the door, one hand resting on her hip and the other holding the drawstrings of her bag that was tossed over her shoulder. Dirt coated her clothes from having been on the trail for days without a good wash. There was even a smudge of dirt on the blonde's cheek for proof of her travels. Finding Mika on the other end was both a good thing and a bad thing. Right now she didn't need another woman in the room, one that could easily cause Rin's mother to reveal her daughter's secret. There was little doubt in Rin's mind that her mother would jump to the conclusion that she and Mika were little more than acquaintances.

"Heya Rin. Hope you haven't forgotten that you promised me a job when I came back," Mika said jokingly.

Of course Rin hadn't forgotten that she had promised Mika a job when she got back from escorting Aqua and Terra to the headquarters of the Knights. While she was doing her daily chores, Rin had tried to think up something that she would need to hire a mercenary for. She had said she needed to gather more plants for paints but all of her supplies were well stocked. There was only one color she could really use more of and that was the blue from the flowers that she had already hired Mika for. Like a bolt of lightning, Rin was struck with an idea. Her painting supplies were well stocked but her herbs for tonics, potions, antidotes, and such were well below what she'd need if she was going to be transitioning to an herbalist rather than a painter.

"I hadn't forgotten Mika. Do you mind waiting at the inn? I have company over right now and she's not the most hospitable person out there," Rin informed the mercenary.

"Oh, who ya got over?" Mika asked as she tried to lean in and look past Rin into the house.

"My mother, not that you need to know," Rin said, her tone soft and reserved.

"You don't seem too happy about that," Mika observed. "Need someone to muscle her on out? I've had to remove a few unwanted people from homes before. Normally they're men sneaking into my room but I doubt your mother would be able to put up as much of a fight as they did." Rin couldn't decide if Mika was actually offering to throw her mother out or if the blonde was just joking. The smirk on the mercenary's face wasn't at all helpful in trying to figure it out. What was getting to Rin was how much she was actually debating about whether to take Mika up on her offer or not. It really scared her when she came to the realization that she really would enjoy the sight of Mika tossing her mother out of her home like a hired guard at a tavern.

"Would you please?" Rin whispered reluctantly as if saying it louder would make what was about to happen worse.

Mika's smirk turned into a full on grin, her white teeth showing. "I'll be as gentle as I can."

Moving out of Mika's way, Rin let the blonde mercenary into her home once again. As Mika walked over to the table where Rin's mother was sitting, she cracked her knuckles threateningly. Normally Mika walked like an average citizen, there was nothing special to her walk, but as she made her way across the room it was like she was a completely different person. She stood straight up, making the most of her abnormal height. Her stride carried purpose, the sound of her knuckles cracking and the menacing smile made her look downright scary. The Mika striding through the room was the kind of person that if you saw them walking down the street, you'd move to the other side in hopes they didn't spot you.

"Who are you?" Rin's mother questioned the approaching woman. Her voice didn't show any fear but her hands laying in her lap where shaking more and more the closer the mercenary got.

"Mika, mercenary for hire. You're kind daughter has asked me to escort you off the premises. It's all up to you how well this goes."

"I'll double what she's paying you to leave," Rin's mother said, her voice starting to gain a hint of the fear she was trying desperately to hide.

"So sorry, I have principles. You could offer ten times what she's paying and I'd still have to refuse you." By now Mika was standing across the table from the blue-haired woman. Golden eyes stared down into amethyst eyes as if daring the sitting woman to try something.

"Fine, I will take my leave of you. Maybe next time my daughter will have the courage to request me to leave rather than have some sellsword do it." Rin's mother stood up and walked over to the still open door where Rin was standing. Looking her daughter up and down, the merchant's wife let out a humph of disapproval and left the house. Mika, who had been right behind Rin's mother, slammed the door almost causing the doorknob to hit the woman on the outside of the house. Mika smacked her hands together like she was getting the dirt off of them.

"And good riddance to bad rubbish." Mika still had on her grin, only now it was softer and more welcoming rather than frightening.

"I just had my own mother thrown out of my house," Rin said, horrified at her actions.

"Uh Rin, I ain't gonna lie, I happened to overhear a bit of the conversation before I knocked on the door." Rin's eyes went wide with fear at the news. If Mika had overheard the beginning of the conversation, there was no telling what sort of conclusion she might draw from it. It would make things much easier in a way if Mika did happen to hear the entire conversation. "All I heard was that your brother was going to stop selling your paintings if you didn't marry some guy." Rin let out the breath she had been holding in, Mika didn't know about her preferences after all. "I'm not an expert when it comes to family, ask my brother if you ever meet him, but giving you a choice like that doesn't seem very 'family like'."

"Even still, she's my mother and I-I shouldn't have had you do that." Rin closed her eyes trying to hold back tears. She felt something soft touch her cheek making her open her eyes so she could find out what it was. A black cloth with a red K stitched into the corner was dabbing at her cheek, wiping up the tears. Looking up at Mika, Rin almost laughed at the sight. The blonde had her brow furrowed and her tongue was sticking out of the corner of her mouth in concentration, like cleaning tears was a great effort.

"There we go. No use in crying over what needed to be done. Now, about that job you needed me to do."

**(C/N)**:

Rin: Aww Mika you have such a soft side

Mika: Keep it quite Rin. We can't have these people knowing that!

Sol: She's not all that sweet Rin. Remember she did stop all contact with me for THREE YEARS.

Luna: Oh come off it Sol. Be happy you have a sister. I'm a single child and I'd love to have a sister.

Sol: Want mine?

Jade: STOP IT ALL OF YOU! This is supposed to be an Author's Note not a Character Note. Rin, you're supposed to be the good one. What possessed you to take over?

Rin: Mika's been a wonderful influence.

Jade: Oy vey. Leave a review please. I bet only Tor and Herald will do it though.


	5. Chapter 4

**(A/N): **So how many of you have read KotH: Eight Months of Boredom? There's a nice little twist in the story that's important to Hardships. So I meant to get this chapter out sooner but I got the idea for another fic. It's a Legend of Dragoon/Dissidia: Final Fantasy crossover titled _Legend of Dragoon: The Moonless Child_. It's set 3500 years after Legend of Dragoon and has only 7 OCs in it and many FF cameos are planned. There is one FF girl that's part of the main story. I had to end up writing that ship...

Also there's a poll on my profile I'd like you to take.

Chapter 4

Sol sat in the common room of a small town inn peering over his a map that he laid out on the table. Light flickered from the fireplace on the other end of the room, the only light so late at night. Luna and Aqua were upstairs in the room they were sharing as they didn't want to spend money on four separate rooms. Sadly for Sol that meant sharing a room with Terra, who'd gone to up to the room right after eating. It wasn't that he didn't mind sharing a room, it was just something about Terra rubbed Sol the wrong way. He was too confident in his abilities, just like a certain raven haired girl he knew. Both of them were a liability on this mission as far as Sol was concerned. Their recklessness would end up in someone getting hurt and most likely it wouldn't be either of them. He was getting sidetracked thinking about that, right now he needed to find the road that would lead them to the Boreas Mountains as soon as possible. If they wanted to take the safer path over the mountains then they would need as much time as possible before the snow blocked the path. If the weather held they could make it with no problems but Autumn was fast approaching and that meant snow in the higher passes.

There were only a few other people in the inn's common room, a straggler that had just checked in along with a waitress and the inn's owner standing at the desk ready to greet anyone that came in. Sol looked up from his map to find that the waitress was sitting in the chair across from him her chin rested in her hand. The look she was giving him, Sol felt like he was an animal in a cage and the waitress was deciding if she was going to buy him or not, it was an unnerving feeling. Trying to ignore the woman's stares Sol went back to studying the map tracing the road between the town he was in and the next one. If the map was accurate, and it damn well better have been since it cost two gold, than it should only take a day and half walking to get to the next town. From there they could follow the road to the next town but it ran around a valley. There a bridge displayed on the map bunch of Xs marking monster territory surrounded it. It'd save two days cutting through but it'd mean fighting an unknown amount of deadly creatures on the way. They could die or end up taking more time as they tried to hide rather than fight. It was going to have to be a last resort, they couldn't take the chance.

Rolling up the map that showed the southern side of the mountains Sol tried to concentrate on the one that displayed the lands past the mountains to try and find the village that was under attack. According to the reports it was supposed to only a day's travel from the mountains but Sol wasn't finding any town that close. Tired of looking at the maps for the hundredth time since leaving Sol debated just heading upstairs and going to sleep. On the other hand he was finally alone, alone in the sense that no one he knew or was traveling with was in the same room as him. Pulling his bag out from underneath his chair Sol took out the envelope that held his sister's letter. While he hadn't been able to rent his own room like he'd wanted, this was probably going to be the best time he had to read it. Passing his hand over the wax seal Sol magically heated it up enough that he was able to open the envelope without tearing the paper, why use a knife to open letters when you had magic? Taking the letter out Sol noticed that it wasn't folded like a normal letter, proof that it was Mika who had written it. Most people folded a letter in three whereas Mika folded it in half then in half again to get it to fit in the envelope. Before unfolding the letter Sol looked up at the second floor to make sure that none of the others had decided to come out for some reason. Satisfied that no one was coming out Sol unfolded the paper to finally see what his sister had written him.

_Dear Brother,_

_By now you should have noticed that you're carrying around another book. If you haven't noticed then shame on you and check your bag for it. It's about _that _temple. I had found it on one of my journeys for the Knights and knew that it couldn't just fade away into nothing like so many others had. Thing was, I didn't have the guts to try and go after the treasure within myself. When I found it I was still sending you money to live on and I didn't want to risk you losing the income because I got greedy. Seeing as how you were reading other journals on the subject I figured you'd try to go after the treasure yourself. I'd say it's a foolish quest and that you'll just end up dead but you're done listening to the advice of your older sister I think so I wanted to do what I could to help give you the best possible chance of living. Brother, please reconsider going to the temple. Some of the greatest explorers tried and failed to get in. You're smart but brains isn't everything, you need guts and strength to overcome the challenges you'll face. Brother, I'm sorry for what I did to you and I don't expect you to forgive me but I just need to let you know that you are my younger brother, I love ya, and if you ever need help all you have to do is ask. _

_On a happier note. I think I'm going to be staying in a town called Vandalia, it's near __Artamila, for some time. It's a pretty small town but there's a lot of traffic going through so if you decide you want to send your big sis a letter that'd be the place to send it. Of course you're more than welcome to come and visit. Hope to hear from you. _

_Your big sis,_

_Mika_

Sol shook his head as he let a small smile show on his face. Even after all these years Mika still refused to call him by his name. She always called him Brother when she talked, or wrote, to him. It was heartwarming that she was worried enough about him to ask him not to go into the Ignis et Glacies temple even though she assumed that he'd be going anyway. Like Mika had said in the letter he was past taking her advice. There was an overwhelming desire to find out what exactly was held in the deepest parts of the chamber. Surely the legends of the weapon's power had been exaggerated over the years. How could one item be able to destroy a city with a single blow, if true then how was it created, could humans even use such a power without destroying themselves in the process? These questions could only be answered in the temple and Sol wasn't going to sit around plagued by these thoughts when he had the opportunity to find out.

Putting the letter back in the envelope, Sol packed up his maps and headed up the stairs. It was pretty late at night and he needed to get to sleep if he was going to be walking all day tomorrow. Sol found Terra fast sleep on one of the beds in the small room. There was just enough space between the two beds for Sol to squeeze in and plop down on the empty bed. There was nothing else in the room other than the two beds, it was the only room available in the town's only inn. Both girls had taken the larger room that had been opened leaving the guys with could only be called an oversized closet. Honestly the size of the room was laughable and it probably once had been a storage room of some sorts before the owner realized that he could slap two beds in and call it a room. If it had been a closet at least the owner had been kind enough to install a window to let the starlight into the room.

* * *

Sunlight streamed through the window waking Sol up. Terra was still in his bed sleeping like, well like a rock to put it bluntly. That fit Sol just fine as they didn't plan to leave until mid-morning. If Terra wanted to spend his time sleeping rather than getting ready than it was no skin off Sol's back. After making sure that everything was still in his bag Sol strapped on his sword and headed downstairs to the common room. It was filled with people compared to last night. Most of the tables were filled with guests leaving only the ones farthest away from the fireplace empty. For Sol that was no problem, he didn't want to be disturbed as he at his morning meal. After taking a seat at the table in the corner the inn's waitress came and took his order. Once she was gone Sol did a quick look at the people in the room. Most of the people sitting around were unarmed and appeared to be just normal travelers. Sol tensed when he saw one table one table filled with men in dark blue uniforms. On the shoulder of the uniforms was a white halberd, they were members of the Guardians another mercenary group that considered the Knights their rivals. The Guardians didn't get as much work as the Knights and didn't have the same reputation but they did have some powerful warriors in their ranks. What really set the two groups apart was how the Guardians went about their business. They didn't seem to care about who they hurt or what law they broke so long as they got the job done. Not only that they charged the contractor extra for any fines they got for lawbreaking. Only the desperate and vile members of society used the Guardians. Sadly there was more than enough people like that to keep the Guardians in business.

Taking a look at each of the members as an individual Sol tried to gauge their strength. One of the men was ripped, Strong Arm Alchemist ripped. A large hammer was propped up next to him; his skills had probably been passed down his family's line for generations. Sol moved on to the next guy. He was small and carried a rapier on his waist. A small blade like that was meant to be used by someone with speed, agility, and flexibility. A third member carried a bow and quiver he probably covered the others while they fought whatever creatures they had been assigned to kill. He also had a small dagger strapped to his leg. Looking the last member over Sol saw a large greatsword strapped to her back. It was smaller than Terra's blade but it was still a hefty sword that would take a great amount of strength to swing. The woman's arms were almost as large as the muscled guy's. All in all not a one of them was something to worry about. Each weapon had an easily exploitable weakness that Sol knew either he or Luna would be able to take advantage of. The problem was going to be if they spotted Sol and decided to fight together. Even at a glance he could see that they were used to fighting with one another, they gave off an aura that told Sol they had spent years fighting alongside one another. Even with Luna it would be hard to defeat the four Guardians.

"Yo Bookworm, what you looking at?" Luna asked taking a seat across the table from him. Sol looked over at Luna. He had been concentrating so hard on the Guardians that he hadn't noticed that Luna and Aqua had come down the stairs. Aqua looked like she had been awake for some time and had managed to take the time to brush her hair. Luna looked like she'd just rolled right out of bed and changed clothes. Sol pointed over to the Guardian's table. "Crap, what are _they _doing in a small town like this?"

"Don't know, just spotted them," Sol answered as quickly and quietly as possible. He didn't want to draw any attention to them. "We need to wake Terra and get out of here now. We can't have a skirmish in the town, we can't spare the time."

"What's wrong with those guys?" Aqua asked quietly, taking the hint that they didn't want to be spotted.

"Rival mercenary group. Did you live under a rock before coming here?" Luna asked. The Guardians and Knight's rivalry was well know.

"Something like that," Aqua answered trying to protect the world order. She couldn't very well come out and say that she wasn't from the world and had no clue of the politics.

"Come on Solaris, we could take them on. Two on four are pretty even odds," Luna smiled wildly like she was already getting ready to fight. Sol rolled his eyes at his partner.

"We don't need to waste our time. Unless you've forgotten there's a town being attacked by a demon and the longer we take the more lives will be lost," Sol tried to appeal to Luna's better nature. Normally once she sensed a fight she did everything in her power to see it through. Thankfully she there was a soft side to the warrior woman. When lives were in danger she would put aside her pride as a warrior and protect those people at all cost, an admirable trait.

"Yeah, you're right. Still wish we could do something to put those four in their place." Luna looked sad as if someone had just destroyed her favorite toy.

"Aqua, Terra's asleep in the room still. Can you go get him? Luna and I will try to sneak out of here without letting the Guardians see us. They'll start a fight with us no questions asked. We'll meet up at the north road." Sol never took his eyes off the four in blue as he spoke.

"Are you sure? If they spot you won't you my help?" Aqua didn't like the looks of the four people and wasn't sure that Sol and Luna would be able to handle them if they were drawn into a fight.

"We'll manage Aqua," Luna assured the bluenette, "Sol may look scrawny but he's got more than enough smarts to outclass those Guardian dimwits."

"Just get Terra," Sol requested ignoring Luna's backhanded compliment.

"I'll try to wake him up as quickly as possible." Aqua got up from the table and headed up to Terra and Sol's room.

Sol slung his bag over his shoulder and stood up. If he wasn't so damn tall he'd be able to use the people to hide him until he reached the door. As it was he'd have to crouch down in order to use the patrons as a shield. Their other option was to simply stride on out and hope they weren't spotted. there was no back door and going up the stairs to use a window wasn't an option, the stairs creaked with practically every step. Ducking down as low as he felt he could while still able to keep a brisk pace Sol started towards the door using the people sitting down as a barrier between him and the four in blue. Luna let out a groan but followed after Sol without any more complaint. If anyone thought it strange that two people were practically crawling out of the inn none of them said a word. All was going well until the waitress stepped on Sol's hand, he was thankful she wasn't in heels. It was just his luck that she didn't seem to notice and was bringing food to the table right next to them. Before Sol could let out a single curse Luna's hand shot over his mouth stopping most of the sound from coming out. It only lasted a few seconds as the waitress had many guests too tend to and time was money but for Sol it was an agonizingly long time.

Nothing else stopped the two mercenaries from getting to the door unspotted. At the last table the made a break for the door and ducked out. Luna's sword clanked against the wood but even if the Guardians had looked over they would have only see the door swinging shut. Now that they were outside and slightly safer Sol looked at his hand. A dark bruise was starting to form on the back. Gingerly rubbing his hand Sol checked to see if anything was broken, it was amazing that all his bones seemed to be intact. Even still he planned on taking a potion as soon as they got out of the city. Luckily enough it wasn't his sword hand so if needed he'd still be able to put up a fight. Glancing over at Luna to make sure that she was indeed behind him Sol motioned with his head towards the north part of town, they headed there to wait for Aqua and Terra.

_You know, for Aqua's sake I hope Terra's decent. _Sol thought as he walked through the town.

-o-O-o-

Rin sat on the floor in front of her closet with three stacks of books around her. They were each about six high and they were quite thin but Rin had barely made a dent in her collection. Each of the books had descriptions for different types of herbs and how to use them for medicinal purposes. A few of the books were written in her father's hand since he'd had to copy the contents of decaying books. If she was really going to be opening up an apothecary then she would need to reread all the books and make sure that she had all the information committed to memory as best she could. Her three piles sorted the information the information contained within the pages. On her right were books that contained the description and locations of various plant life; the stack to her left was how to use the plants to make various healing tonics. The stack behind her, which were books thrown haphazardly over her shoulder, contained information on the darker uses of herbs, poisons and such. Rin didn't want to make anything that people could use to kill each other only potions that could heal the sick and patch up wounds with miraculous results.

Having always kept a collection of the plants she knew had healing properties Rin only needed to triple her personal stores rather than collect a large amount of herbs. To make quick work of some she could go to town and buy a large quantity. Buying them though would put a hole in her savings that she might need for later. She was a starting a new apothecary and wouldn't have many customers until she got a reputation which meant living off her savings, possibly for a few months. Not only did she need to find a place to get her collection up, she needed to hire someone to build more storage space into her home so there was a place for all the jars. Which reminded her, she also needed to buy a hell of a lot of bottles to put everything in. It was going to be costly work and she might not have enough saved up for everything now that she started to mentally do the math. She had gotten so caught up in the idea that she hadn't fully thought it out. If her father could see her now he'd be so disappointed in his little girl. Rin had definitely learned better than to jump into a business venture so quickly. At this rate she was going to need a partner in order to afford all that she needed. Who could she call on to lend her some money though? If her mother was serious, and she probably was, then she would try to cut Rin out from all contacts so no one would sell her paintings or help her out.

"Hey Rin whatcha doing in here?" Mika just waltzed right into Rin's room without so much as knocking on the door. True the door was open but she still should have had the courtesy to knock. Mika had stayed the night as "payment" for tossing Rin's mother out yesterday, not that Rin had any problems with letting Mika stay in the guest room. It was just better for everyone if there was a reason that she offered her room to the blonde rather than just asking her to stay the night.

Rin looked over her shoulder with every intention of scolding Mika for not knocking on the door. All of her words and annoyance were lost when she got a glimpse of Mika. The mercenary had just gotten out of bed and had the cutest bed hair that Rin had ever seen. It was messed up so perfectly. Not only that but Mika was dressed in shorts and her shirt was completely unbuttoned. Rin turned away fast enough that whiplash may have occurred. She could feel her cheeks heat up as she picked up another book from the pile on floor of her closet. Try as she might Rin couldn't read the words on the page she was so flustered. She hadn't seen anything she shouldn't have but her imagination was running wild with the image of what she had seen. It was all part of being a healthy young woman.

"I'm looking through my old books. I have to relearn everything in them if I'm going to open an apothecary." Rin wasn't sure how she was able to pull it off but she had been able to keep her voice steady. "Mika, I know it's just the two of us in here, but there are windows."

"What? Oh." Mika looked at herself totally unaware that her shirt was open. She lazily took care of the problem. "Thought it was a bit chilly in here."

_A bit chilly? That's all she has to say after giving me a heart attack? _Rin glared at the pages she held in front of her face. _Hmm heart attacks, what do I need to help a person prone to those again? _Rin set back to work hoping that her mind would clear once got back to focusing on her sorting her books.

"Anyway that I can help with?" Mika asked scooting the stack of books about locations away as she sat cross legged next to Rin. Handing Mika a book from the closet Rin explained what the three stacks where and they set to work sorting Rin's collection.

"Gods I thought my brother had a lot of books," Mika commented when she reached in to grab another book and noticed the size of Rin's stack. It was a pile thirty high and twelve wide, not counting what Rin had already gone through.

"It only looks like a lot but it's not really. Each one only contains information on five or so plants. Herbalists are very stingy when it comes to parting with information on their potions and tonics. Father knew their importance and only sold them when the shop wasn't doing so great," Rin explained tossing a book behind her. It explained six different ways to use wyvern spit as a catalyst for poisons.

"How did you end up with'em then?" Mika asked staring at the book she had in her hands. It was written in a different language, one Mika knew but hadn't used recent enough to be able to skim the words.

"Father gave them to me for my birthdays over the years. He knew how much I enjoyed learning about all the different ways to bring out the healing properties of plants." Rin clutched the book in her hands tightly. It was one of the first ones she had received from her dad. Written on the first page in her dad's sloppy handwriting was _Happy 9th birthday Rin_. Now he was cutting her out of the family. Oh sure he may not be the one actively doing anything but he was letting his wife destroy the life his little girl had made for herself. It hurt that he was just sitting back letting this happen, she hadn't heard from him in years and now all the sudden it was "marry of stay out of our lives". Rin felt an arm wrap around her shoulders.

"Hey, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories." Mika smiled as she spoke trying to uplift Rin's spirits.

"You didn't," Rin lied.

"So what'd the book say then?" Mika pointed to the crumpled pages in Rin's hands. Panicked Rin loosened her grip on the pages and did a quick scan to see what the book was talking about. The contents were all plants that Rin had in her storage and knew where to get them already. "You can't pull the wool over my eyes Rin, I'm observant. Comes from dealing with a _lot _of people. Some of them are crooks and you quickly pick up on visual cues to tell what a person's thinking or feeling."

"I know what you're talking about. Father claimed he could tell how much gold a person was carrying on them just by how they walked." Rin tried to smooth the pages out so they weren't a crinkled mess around the edges but it wasn't working too well, she was still shaking with anger and sadness.

"Well come one, these things aren't going to sort themselves sadly enough." Mika went back to trying to decipher the book she had. Rin nodded in agreement and placed the wrinkled book next to her, she'd try to flatten out later. "Damnit," Mika groaned as she scratched her head, "what's this word mean again?"

"That's the name of the flower Mika," Rin giggled as she peered over Mika's shoulder. The blonde had put her finger under the word to focus her mind on it. Reading the surrounding text Rin was impressed that Mika was able to read it. Her first impression of the woman wasn't one that led her to believe Mika was the type of person to learn more than the commonly used languages. This one was a few centuries dead and people only used it to hide things they didn't want known. Where had Mika picked it up and why did she know it, more importantly how was she able to read it without a translation guide? Even Rin's family needed one to decipher the ancient text.

They spent the next two hours going through the books sorting them into the three piles. At one point Rin had to get up and pull a box out of the closet that held translation texts to decipher a book she'd come across. Mika never seemed to need any of the translators though, whenever she came across a language that Rin would have needed a book to help with she'd just take a bit longer than normal. It made Rin highly curious as to what Mika had been doing as a mercenary that she knew all the languages that she did. Was it something all mercs needed to learn or did Mika just enjoy learning dead languages? As Rin was translating one of the last books it hit her why Mika might know all that she did. She had said that she sent her little brother books at one point, maybe Mika had read them first before sending them home to make sure that she wasn't sending anything bad back to him. Would she really do that though? Mika may seem nice now but who knows what she had been like in her earlier years.

"There we are," Mika tossed the last book behind her. Unfolding her legs she stood up and stretched, her back popping as she did so. "That's the last one."

"Hey Mika, it's not that I don't appreciate the help but what made you sit here for two hours sorting books?" Rin asked as she placed her book in the location pile.

"Cause I was bored. That and I'm evil and going to see if I can guilt you into making me some breakfast now." Mika grinned devilishly as she looked down at Rin.

"I suppose I can do that," Rin sighed holding her hand out. Mika got the hint and helped Rin get onto her feet. Rin was wearing a full length skirt and that made getting up off the floor awkward after sitting down for hours as Rin was basically sitting on her legs. A few seconds of wobbling later Rin was able to walk with no problems and headed into the kitchen to figure out what she was going to make for the both of them. doing chores was always the best time to think too, it'd give Rin an opportunity to think up a person she could ask to go into business with.


	6. Chapter 5

**(A/N):** It's my birthday! So if you read a few of my stories you'll see this message elsewhere today. If it's not too much trouble, and I know it isn't, leave me a review as your birthday gift to me. Now to go play Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate for the 3DS.

Chapter 5

Luna gazed up at the clear blue sky. It'd been three days since they had left the Guardian scum back at that inn. They had already passed through another town, the last one before the mountains. Now the only thing Luna had to look forward to was the long trek around a valley that they could easily go through. Sol had explained that there were monsters in the area and it'd be reckless to try and get through but Luna was sure that with the four of them they could handle anything that came their way. Sure Sol might be a weakling but Terra was a powerhouse of a guy if their duel had shown anything. Only person Luna hadn't seen fight was Aqua so she couldn't get an idea of the other woman's fighting skills but if she was training under the same master that Terra was then she'd have to be good. Come demon fighting time it was going to be all Terra and Aqua which was a letdown since they hadn't see anything of interest in their journey yet.

Clear skies made travel warm even though they were nearing Autumn. With no trees or clouds to shade them the sun was an unrelenting source of heat. Normally it didn't bother Luna but today it felt like the day couldn't get any hotter. It was as if someone was focusing the heat right on them, at one point Luna swore that she could see heat waves. Heat waves this late in the year and so far up north would be an impossibility though, you didn't have to be a genius to figure that out. With such things impossible Luna put it out of her mind as they walked down the dirt road that lead to nowheresville. Roads were filled with monsters roaming the countryside, Luna had honestly thought that at some point in time they would run across one creature or another

What Luna really wanted was to find the Guardians out on the road and teach them a good lesson. It had been ages since she had gotten into a real fight with another human being. Sure some monsters were stronger than her or smarter than her but none of them had the deadly combination that humans possessed. Duels only got you so far in a test of skills. An outright fight against another human would be a real test of strength and cunning, which Luna believed she had a surplus of. Oh sure there were other humans that were better than her in one category or another but she was a blend of what a warrior should be. No matter what the older members of the Knights told her Luna knew that it'd just be a matter of time before she could pass them. After all she was young and there was a lot more to learn before she was there level. All she had to do was keep her core the same and learn to adapt to what was coming at her.

"Hey Luna what you thinking about?" Terra, who was walking next to her, asked.

"Just wishing that we could have had a crack at those Guardians," Luina answered straight. There was no reason to deny what she wanted. There weren't any problems with wanting to test your power against a rival band of mercs.

"Your two groups really hate each other that much?" the brunette swordsman asked.

"Not really, it's more the Guardians have an extreme hatred of us. Captain Rex has made it clear we are to only fight them if we have no other choice but I don't see why we should let them go around acting so high and mighty." It was vastly annoying to know you belonged to the better group but you weren't allowed to show your worth. While Luna could agree that they shouldn't attack the Guardians each and every time they saw them, what was wrong with proving a point every now and again?

"And there's a reason for that Luna," Sol chimed in much to Luna's aggravation. She could only dream up a reason as to why he felt the need to but into a conversation that was clearly between her and Terra. Couldn't he go and talk with Aqua. From the way he blushed around her he certainly had a crush on her. True he didn't exactly go crimson when he looked at her but he never met her gaze and his pinks got a bit of color to them when he talked with her. "We don't fight the Guardians because we _are _better than them. We don't need to prove that and if we started a fight without reason we would no longer come across as the better mercenary group."

"Yeah, yeah I get it. No need to preach Solaris." Luna didn't talk at Sol, she just get walking with her eyes trained on the horizon. If it wasn't for the stupid detour around the valley they could probably see the peaks of the Boreas Mountains by now but instead all Luna could see was trees.

Luna had been happy talking with Terra for the brief two seconds they had of peace. No matter what, it seemed that Sol was there to interrupt the conversation pointing out something wrong with what she had said. If she didn't know any better she'd say that he had nothing better to do than pick on her and Terra. However, with how often he consulted that map of his and read his books, he clearly did have something better to do. He really was interested in this one book that he had. His nose was constantly in it, when he wasn't causing her problems that is. Luna was curious as to what was so interesting to him that he had to read it while walking. When they had went on their first mission he had his nose in a book then to. Though they had been riding a horse though and that took marginally less focus than walking on your own while reading. From how intensely he was reading the book Luna wondered if it had something to do with demons. But why would he so conveniently have a book on the subject? He had been just as shocked as she was too find out that their target was a fully fledged Fire Demon and there was no way he was that good of an actor. There had to be some reason that he was reading the same book for three days straight.

When the sun reached its zenith they stopped to take a break by a stream. Luna splashed some of the water on her face, it felt good on this abnormally warm day. She didn't know where he had gotten one but upstream Sol was sitting with his back against a good size rock and a fishing pole in his hands. Looking into the stream Luna could make out decent sized fish darting around in the water.

_Does he really hope to catch any of these fish? It'll take too long to get any. He's the one always making sure that we pack up quickly and get back on the road. _Luna wondered what her partner was thinking as she soaked her hair in the water. Flipping her soaked hair back around she could feel the cool water against her neck, one of the advantages to having long hair on a hot day. It was the best she could do without any shade to protect her skin. Speaking of her skin, Luna looked at her pasty color and wondered what it was about her that prevented her from tanning. Her mother had the same condition, no matter how much sun they got their skin never got any darker. As a housewife Luna's mother had been fine, it gave her the same fair skin as a princess her mother had always said. However, Luna always wanted a bit of a tan to show that she spent her days out in the sun working for a living rather than letting someone take care of her. Much to Luna's disbelief, when they went to pack up after their break, Sol had three fish slung on a hook.

"I'll have to clean them later but dinner won't be dried meat tonight," Sol smiled as he wrapped the fish in a clean cloth. The prospect of having fresh food rather than road food made Luna want to hug Sol. Cured meats and stale biscuits were not the best meal for days in a row. Even when they had stopped by in that last town they hadn't stayed the night, they only stayed long enough to restock their supplies before heading out. Terra and Aqua had never once complained about the pace Sol had set for their travel. Luna wished she knew what kind of training they had gone through. Most people she met, that weren't constant travelers, hated life on the road. Even when she had first started working for the Knights she had complained about how they had to do so much walking. Now she was just used to it and considered it part of the job.

"Well well well," a voice cut through the air, "looks like our prey has caught us our dinner."

"Show yourselves!" Luna demanded. While she didn't actually expect them to do so it had yet to hurt demanding such. All four members looked around for the source of the voice or the person the voice had been talking to. Without anything to hide behind they should be able to easily spot the people.

Across the stream Luna saw more heat waves shimmer. Only they weren't heat waves. From out of the warped light appeared four people, the four Guardians from the inn. Luna felt like an idiot when she realized that the light she had been seeing throughout the day had been the illusion magic. It was impossible to fully hide yourself with magic, there was always a giveaway. The woman with the greatsword stepped out in front of the others. From the way the others looked at her she was the leader of the group. That meant that she would probably be the strongest of the four. The fact she was using a greatsword meant that she had some power in her tree trunk sized arms.

"Thought you two had managed to sneak away from us back in that inn? Please we saw you at your table making your little escape plan," the woman said with a laugh, her voice was ridiculously deep for a woman.

"You cannot escape my sight," the bowmen said as he drew an arrow from his quiver. The feather was spiraled to make the arrow spin in flight. It had yet to be proven that it added more penetration to the arrow but more than a few people believed it did.

"Archer with good sight, looks like your weapon picked you," Luna taunted. She could feel her heart start to race with anticipation at the upcoming battle. There was no way they were going to get away from this situation without a fight and since Sol was currently drawing his own sword, even he knew that for a fact. Drawing her own sword Luna took a quick look at the remaining two members, she hadn't gotten a good look back at the inn. The muscled hammer man looked way too bulky to be able to move with any speed. No doubt his plan of attack was to just pummel everything in sight and hope that he caught his opponent. The other guy with his rapier probably fit into the stereotypical all speed no strength cliché that most rapier wielders did. Considering that _Sol _looked to have more muscle mass than that guy it was a safe assumption.

"Do not make fun of my companion," the rapier wielding guy said as he drew his fire poker.

"Luna," Sol said seriously like he did with everything but this time his voice carried a bit more weight to it. "I need you to take out the guy with the hammer. Avoid the archer at all costs. He was the one generating the illusion, who knows what other spells he has up his sleeves." Turning his attention back to the four Guardians, Sol narrowed his focus on the archer like he was trying to figure out what he could do just by looking at him. "He's going to be the wild card, that's why he has the bow. With his range he can pick us off with magic and his bow."

"Don't forget about us," Terra said placing his hand on Sol's shoulder.

"Terra's right, we can't let you two do this alone," Aqua said drawing her katana. Her stance wasn't one that Luna had seen before, but whatever worked for her.

"Four on four I see," the hammerer said as he… stripped. He ripped his shirt off to reveal a chiseled chest. Violet diamond shaped sparkles appeared around the man as he struck poses. "You'll face the hammer skills that have been passed down the Strongarm line for generations!" It took all of Luna's self control to not burst into laughter at the sight of the man. He looked absurd posing like that right before a battle. Any credit or threat he may have had just went out the window as he stood their striking different poses. "I Alex Lewis Strongarm will be your downfall, puny Knight!" Luna couldn't hold it in anymore; she held her sides as she started laughing at the man. He was just too funny to be taken seriously.

"Luna," Sol groaned.

"It's too funny," Luna said between breaths. "I mean really, 'passed down the Strongarm line for generations!', who says that stuff?"

"This guy apparently," Sol pointed out. "Pull yourself together. He might not be bright but he's strong and that hammer looks like it has some reach to it. You'll need to focus on avoiding him all together. Luna, don't try to block his attacks. I know you're strong but that guy's a walking mountain."

"I know Sol," Luna said returning to her serious nature.

"It's good to see friends looking out for one another," Aqua said to Terra making sure that she hadn't spoken loud enough for the two world natives to hear.

"Good friends build strong bonds. I'm not sure if they're good friends though," Terra chuckled thinking back to how often the two argued.

"Please, you and Ven argue far more than that back home," Aqua pointed out. "It's like you two are real brothers."

"Let's these two out shall we?" Terra stated more than asked already knowing his friends answer.

"Enough of this!" the over muscled swordswoman shouted as she took her blade off of her back. "Today the Guardians will beat the Knights and the world will know of our victory when we bring back your heads."

"Bit disturbed ain't she?" Luna commented as she walked calmly up to the stream. "She's right though, let's get this started!"

-o-O-o-

Rin sat at the table looking over one of her books. After Mika had helped her sort the books she had started on finding out the effects of the more common herbs that she could get her hands on. Most of what she read she remembered and that sped up the process of going through the books. Some things were just hard for her to forget it seemed, like that night that Mika had slept in her bed. The blonde mercenary was out on another job at the moment, something about getting a ring back from the goblins in the forest. The green creatures had gotten more aggressive over the years and had recently taken up attacking people who traveled on the road going through the forest. It was one of the reasons among why Rin had hired Mika that first time.

It seemed though that when Mika was around Rin felt like she was on cloud nine and the day seemed to pass by rather quickly. Rin had gotten through quite a number of her small books with the assistance of the blonde. Mika helped write down the locations of the plants that Rin looked up and all she asked for was a homemade meal in return. She said it was nice to have some good home cooking once in awhile rather than the slop inns and taverns served to their customers. Rin honestly didn't mind cooking for two, Mika even helped pay for the ingredients with the money that Rin had paid her. Three days had passed since Mika had taken her job and Rin had only managed to go through twelve books in that amount of time. The lack of Mika seemed to make Rin's life a bit dull. Mika had a positive energy about her that was contagious and brightened up the room when she entered it. Rin wasn't stupid, she knew that she had fallen hard for the mercenary and that was the reason she was missing her so much.

Dog earing the page she was on Rin closed the book and got up from the table. She needed to find something to do that would take her mind off the thing she was missing. Having a crush on a person and not knowing their own feelings, though reasonably expecting they don't feel the same, distracted many people from doing what they needed to be doing. Looking at the empty canvas sitting in the corner of her room Rin was reminded of just why she was going through all of her old books. She didn't have time to be messing around, she needed to get through her books and figure out what plants she would need to collect before she was able to open up her shop. Though now that she thought about it. One of the things that she hadn't done was scope out her would-be competition. Vandalia already had an apothecary and she had a good reputation amongst the townsfolk. If Rin really did plan to set up shop in the same small town she was going to have to find out what her Stephanie was doing and how best to come up with a way to make her own shop be able to hold its own.

Slipping on a pair of heels Rin grabbed her coat and headed out the door making sure to lock it behind her. Stephanie's shop was in the center of town near the tavern, a great place to do business. Whatever disease or sickness the tavern goers got, from either the food or the girls, they could go across the street and get something to help. Rin hadn't had much need to ever go to Stephanie's shop as she was able to make her own tonics so Rin didn't know very much about the woman. They had met not long after Rin moved to town and started selling her paintings to the locals. Stephanie had bought one of a barn sitting in the middle of a wheat field with the sun high in the sky and birds flying through the clear blue.

Stephanie's shop was a grey colored shop with a green leaf painted above the door marking it as an apothecary's place. Many of the common stores had a sign that marked them for what they were. Armories had a sword and shield, general stores a brown bag, banks and money lenders a pile of gold, with apothecaries having the green leaf. Opening the door, something Rin realized she'd have to deal with if she set up shop in her own home, Rin walked right in. She was overcome by the aroma of various plants and spices. In the great mix of smells it was hard to distinguish one from the other but she could smell cinnamon permeating through the other scents. Clear jars and bottles sat along shelves that lined the room. Each was filled with a different liquid or substance and the glass clearly marking the contents.

There was only one other piece of furniture in the room, a desk that went from wall to wall. There was a spot on the right side that could be flipped up to allow people to the back. Behind the desk were more shelves filled with potions. Judging from the prices written under the bottle, those ones had more costly or rare ingredients. Stephanie herself was standing behind the counter with an arm full of bottles restocking some of the empty slots. Not much to say about Stephanie's looks, while many considered her pretty with her emerald green hair and chocolate brown eyes. What the men really stared at was her not so hidden large bust. That was probably going to be a, pardon the pun, _large_ part of Rin's competition. Stephanie's dress had a plunging neckline that showed more than even some of the working girls felt was needed. What part of her dress that did hide her skin was so tight that it was practically pointless.

"Hey Steph, got that potion I asked for?" a very familiar voice asked from one of the rooms coming off the main.

"Quiet in there," Stephanie shouted back at the voice, "I'm with a customer."

"Oh, who?" the voice asked. Rin was disturbed by how familiar it was and how she couldn't place it at all.

"I don't know who she is!" Stephanie yelled back at the voice, turning around to Rin after placing the last bottle on the shelf. "Sorry about my friend in there, she's a sheep of a different color. So what can I get you?"

"Just browsing," Rin answered honestly. It was the truth, she just had no interest in buying anything the woman had to offer. All Rin wanted to know was what types of things the potions could do and the going price for them. Potency would have to come later once Rin had figured out how to replicate any of the effects she didn't know. She didn't want to drive another person out of business but at the moment she didn't really have another choice. Marrying some random guy for the sake of her family was more appalling. If all went well Rin would certainly be fine working with Stephanie, she just had to make sure that her income would be enough to support another worker.

"You came in here to look around? Most people come in looking for something specific." Stephanie raised an eyebrow in question at Rin's actions. Her tone was annoyed, she didn't care if Rin was here for any reason other than to buy something and get out.

"Guess I'm not most people am I?" Rin asked with a smile on her face. "You see I plan to set up my own shop one day and I'm checking other apothecaries to see what they stock. Want to make sure my shop is going to be up to snuff you know?"

"Wish you would have come by 'bout a week ago. My shelves were much better stocked. You see, once I empty out enough of my supplies I'm heading to one of the big cities to try my luck there." Stephanie looked out at her inventory that still lined the shelves. No matter how you looked at it she had a ways to go before she would be considered low on supplies. Looking at the various potions and reading their effects Rin wondered why Stephanie had even created them. In a landlocked town there was no need oxygen potion. That was used for swimmers that dived down to the bottom of the sea or lakes depending on the potion because you had to account for the salt in seawater. Vandalia was two weeks away from any sea and over three days to the nearest lake deep enough to warrant such a mixture.

"How many things do you need to sell before you'll be able go to the city?" Rin asked sweetly never betraying the fact that she planned to take over for the green haired woman once she left.

"A shelf or two worth of tonics. Some of these things I'm going to have to scrap. I mean honestly, there isn't a need for any truth serum around here. It's a small town, everyone knows everything about everyone." How untrue that was. Rin was practically a ghost in the town, only a few people seemed to realize that she actually lived in the town even though she had been living here since she was eighteen. Since practically no one knew Rin she knew very little about the people in her own town. That's what she got for spending most of her time indoors painting rather than socializing. Truth serum did catch Rin's attention though. She didn't know that such an effect could be produced from plants, she would have to keep an eye out for such a thing when going through her books, but just in case:

"I'd like the smallest vial of that you have if you wouldn't mind." If all else failed Rin would take some herself and try it out. First she would need to see if it worked, which meant she would need to wait until Mika got back so she could have someone question her. Once she verified that it indeed worked, she would have to try and figure out what had gone inside the darn thing. It might not sell in a small town like this but Rin could see the value for holding onto a small personal vial of it.

"Yo Steph," the same voice as before said. This time it sounded closer, like the person had gotten up from where they had been and moved towards the door. Still the voice sounded like Rin should know the owner. She didn't have to wonder any longer as to the owner because Mika stepped out of the doorway. Her clothes were torn and there was a large gash over her left eye. Her left shoulder was badly burned the clothing around the area charred black. Rin hadn't seen Mika look any worse for the wear than she did right now. True Rin hadn't exactly seen what Mika went through other than that one goblin fight but she didn't think that the blonde had to go through these kind of things. Just what were those goblins doing that they could hurt Mika so badly? Last time she had made quick work of the green creatures. "Oh, hey Rin"

"Mika what happened to you?!" Rin cried racing over to the counter. Jumping over the counter, something Rin never thought that she would find herself doing, she placed a hand on Mika's uninjured shoulder and took a look at the burn. "What happened to you?"

"Know that shaman that kept scampering away, he came back with a vengeance," Mika explained with a forced laugh. From her breathing Rin took a wild guess that she had taken a hard blow to the ribs. There appeared to be nothing at work to clean her up. Rin prayed to every holy spirit she could think of that this wasn't Mika _after _being cleaned up.

"So you two know each other," Stephanie spoke up reminding the two that she was in the room. Rin's cheeks flared up as she realized that she had completely forgotten that the green haired woman was in the room. Looking around Rin came to fully appreciate the fact she had jumped over the counter to get to Mika. She could only hope that both women thought it was because she thought of Mika as a good friend and nothing more.

"Yeah," Mika answered casually, "I've been doing a few odd jobs for her. I'd like to think that we've become great friends in the short while we've been together."

"Friends eh?" Stephanie laughed. "If you were a guy Mika, I'd say you two were a bit more than just friends."

"What's being a guy got to do with anything?" Mika asked sternly. "What if Rin and I _are _something more?" Rin felt her face drain of what little color there was. Mika couldn't possibly know that she did swing that way and even if she did why would she go around making jokes about it? This wasn't the kind of thing people joked about without raising a lot of questions.

"Then mazel tov. What people do behind closed doors is their own business. So long as it don't interfere with me and my work I'm fine." Rin eyes went wide and she was shocked that her jaw didn't drop at how casually Stephanie had just said that. Was she just going along with what she figured to be a joke or was there something more going on here that Rin just couldn't bring herself to understand?

"Ya really think that?" Mika asked seemingly shocked as Rin, though far better at covering it up.

"Sure, takes all kinds to make life interestin' don't it? Wait, you actually a skirt chasing girl?" Stephanie asked seriously. There was no malice in her voice that Rin had heard so often from her mother and others who through that Rin had just been going through a phase.

"Uh yeah actually. You're like the first 'normal' person I've met that's been fine with it. Or do you chase skirt to?" Rin felt like her heart was going to explode into a million and five pieces. Mika like women just like she did! There was actually a chance at something between them. Now all she had to do was find a way to confess what she was feeling to Mika without scaring her off. Mika didn't seem like the kind of person that wanted to be tied down to one spot, or one person even, and it wouldn't do Rin any good to come on strong.

"Yes and no. I'm in the middle you could say. Don't really matter to me what equipment they got. Both genders got their perks." Stephanie said as she leaned up against the counter.

"Nice way of viewing things," Mika complemented. "Now if we can get talking about the potion I've been waiting twenty minutes for."

"Right," Stephanie smiled reaching for a bottle with a pink liquid inside. "It'll alleviate the pain a bit and speed of your body's natural healing process. You'll be puking your guts out once the effects wear off though."

"Great," Mika said blandly, "get to look forward to more lying around with a bucket next to my head."

"Wait!" Rin said as Mika uncorked the bottle. "I know that potion. Add a quarter teaspoon of diced ginger and two mint leaves and you shouldn't have as bad of a problem."

"Really?" Stephanie asked. "Mint does seem to have soothing effects. It's used in a few of my stomach flu tonics. How could I not think to add it to this?!" The green haired woman jogged into the back room and came out with a box of ginger and a vial of mint. Taking a knife out from below the counter she diced the ginger. Taking the amount that Rin had specified she dumped the contents into the pink potion which turned a sickly blue color.

"Well bottoms up." Mika said as she downed the contents.


End file.
